Asked by: Tony Lloyd (Labour - Rochdale)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has to appoint a new Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The role of the Anti-Slavery Commissioner (IASC) as set out in the 2015 Modern Slavery Act is to encourage good practice in the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of slavery and human trafficking offences and the identification of victims.
The Home Secretary recognises the importance of the role of Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner and has launched a new open competition to recruit for this role.
The advert for the role went live on 23 February 2023 and can be found on the public appointment section on gov.uk with an estimate timeline for the appointment.
The competition will be conducted as quickly as possible, whilst ensuring we take the necessary steps to recruit the best person for the role.
Asked by: Tony Lloyd (Labour - Rochdale)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what provision has been made for agricultural seasonal worker visa holders to remain working in the UK for the duration of their visa if the scheme operator who recruited them becomes unlicensed for any reason.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The welfare of the people using our visa schemes is always of paramount importance to us, including in the Seasonal Worker scheme. In the event that a scheme operator for the Seasonal Worker routes became unlicensed for any reason, the Home Office will consider each case on its own merits and tailor our response accordingly.
The licensed sponsors for the Seasonal Worker route are listed on Register of Licensed Sponsors: www.gov.uk/government/publications/register-of-licensed-sponsors-workers
The Home Office does not provide commentary on when individual organisations enter onto or leave the Register of Licensed Sponsors.
The selection of Scheme Operators is led by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Details of this process can be found at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/seasonal-worker-visa-route-request-for-information-rfi.
Asked by: Tony Lloyd (Labour - Rochdale)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many potential scheme operators were in place to run the agricultural seasonal worker visa scheme; on what date were the most recent four scheme operators recruited; and when her Department last made an open call for applications for operators to run the scheme.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The welfare of the people using our visa schemes is always of paramount importance to us, including in the Seasonal Worker scheme. In the event that a scheme operator for the Seasonal Worker routes became unlicensed for any reason, the Home Office will consider each case on its own merits and tailor our response accordingly.
The licensed sponsors for the Seasonal Worker route are listed on Register of Licensed Sponsors: www.gov.uk/government/publications/register-of-licensed-sponsors-workers
The Home Office does not provide commentary on when individual organisations enter onto or leave the Register of Licensed Sponsors.
The selection of Scheme Operators is led by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Details of this process can be found at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/seasonal-worker-visa-route-request-for-information-rfi.
Asked by: Tony Lloyd (Labour - Rochdale)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the short-term visa scheme for poultry workers; and what steps her Department is taking to help prevent workers on that scheme from being in debt bondage.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
In November 2021 we introduced a temporary concession enabling poultry workers to be recruited via the Seasonal Worker route, to ensure that there were sufficient workers to cover the surge in poultry production and preparation during the festive season. This received a positive response from the sector and received a good uptake, therefore we included provision for pre-Christmas poultry workers within the main Seasonal Worker route from Autumn 2022.
The Seasonal Worker scheme operators are responsible for managing all aspects of the recruitment and placement of workers on UK farms and ensuring their welfare in the UK. This includes ensuring ethical recruitment practices, in line with Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority regulations.
We take the welfare of migrant workers extremely seriously and we are committed to working with DEFRA and the GLAA in order to ensure that workers are not subject to mistreatment, abuse or fall in debt bondage and that their time in the UK is positive and productive.
Asked by: Tony Lloyd (Labour - Rochdale)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 23 January 2023 to Question 120891 on Agriculture: Seasonal Workers, how many monitoring visits to seasonal worker visa scheme operators and growers her (a) Department and (b) the Home Office carried out in(i) 2021 and (ii) 2022.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Home Office does not routinely publish data on monitoring visits to seasonal worker visa scheme operators.
Asked by: Tony Lloyd (Labour - Rochdale)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration’s (ICIBI) report entitled An inspection of the immigration system as it relates to the agricultural sector, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the comments in that report that (a) front-line Home Office compliance staff confirmed that there was a lack of follow-up, with some explaining that they were very reactive and (b) staff did not know what happened with the reports or whether the issues were reported to more senior officials.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
As outlined in our acceptance of ICBI recommendations, the Department intends to form a dedicated team to monitor the operational immigration elements of the scheme. This will include introducing new guidance and training, recruitment of specialist staff, and an enhanced use of intelligence.
The Department will produce a communications and engagement roadmap which will be completed by April 2023.
We will also prepare a document setting out the roles and responsibilities of various Home Office units involved with the Seasonal Worker route. This will be completed by July 2023.
Asked by: Tony Lloyd (Labour - Rochdale)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration’s (ICIBI) report entitled An inspection of the immigration system as it relates to the agricultural sector, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the finding which indicated that for the seasonal worker visa schemes fewer than 97 per cent of sponsored workers who had obtained visas left the UK at the end of their permitted stay in 2021.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
As per our response in the report, we assessed the data set that the ICIBI were drawing on to be incomplete. Whilst there were indications of an instance of a Sponsor not meeting the 97% metric, there is further work to corroborate this with the Providers themselves. This can be found in paragraph 8.48 of the published report (An inspection of the immigration system as it relates to the agricultural sector May to August 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)).
The assessment of performance metrics of the seasonal worker labour providers is an ongoing rolling process, but where we do find any that have been breached, robust action will be taken against their licence to operate.
Asked by: Tony Lloyd (Labour - Rochdale)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has received the report from the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration on its inspection of the immigration system as it relates to the agricultural sector; and when she plans to publish that report.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
A final report on inspection of the immigration system as it relates to the agricultural sector has been issued formally by the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration (ICIBI) to the Secretary of State and will be published as soon as possible.
Asked by: Tony Lloyd (Labour - Rochdale)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if the Government will set up a Single Enforcement Body to ensure proactive labour market enforcement of conditions of workers employed in the UK via the agricultural Seasonal Worker visa scheme.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Home Office is unable to comment on hypothetical scenarios, each individual case will be considered on its own merits and in accordance with the immigration rules and guidance in place at the time.
As the published guidance states Seasonal Workers are permitted to work for more than one employer and it is the responsibility of the scheme operator to match workers with a suitable employer.
The Scheme Operators are responsible for managing all aspects of the recruitment and placement of workers on UK farms and ensuring their welfare in the UK. This includes ensuring ethical recruitment practices, in line with Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority regulations, and that workers are fully supported throughout their stay.
The Home Office closely monitors the scheme operators to ensure they are complying with their sponsor duties. Non-compliance with the guidance could result in the revocation of their sponsor license.
Seasonal Workers receive the same protections under UK law as resident workers, including employment laws. Such laws are enforced by the relevant regulator.
The Single Enforcement Body, lead by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, is a substantial organisational change and we are making sure all aspects have been considered. The new body requires primary legislation so timing depends on the Parliamentary timetable.
Asked by: Tony Lloyd (Labour - Rochdale)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which Government department is responsible for helping workers on the agricultural Seasonal Worker visa who are in situations which do not meet UK employment law but are not classified as modern slavery.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Home Office is unable to comment on hypothetical scenarios, each individual case will be considered on its own merits and in accordance with the immigration rules and guidance in place at the time.
As the published guidance states Seasonal Workers are permitted to work for more than one employer and it is the responsibility of the scheme operator to match workers with a suitable employer.
The Scheme Operators are responsible for managing all aspects of the recruitment and placement of workers on UK farms and ensuring their welfare in the UK. This includes ensuring ethical recruitment practices, in line with Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority regulations, and that workers are fully supported throughout their stay.
The Home Office closely monitors the scheme operators to ensure they are complying with their sponsor duties. Non-compliance with the guidance could result in the revocation of their sponsor license.
Seasonal Workers receive the same protections under UK law as resident workers, including employment laws. Such laws are enforced by the relevant regulator.
The Single Enforcement Body, lead by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, is a substantial organisational change and we are making sure all aspects have been considered. The new body requires primary legislation so timing depends on the Parliamentary timetable.