Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guarantees are in place to ensure that workers on the horticultural Seasonal Worker visa are (a) transferred to a different Scheme Operator and (b) supported to access work in the event that the Scheme Operator who sponsored their UK visa has their sponsorship revoked.

Scheme Operators are required to have a clear employer transfer pathway in place as a condition of holding their sponsor licence, including transparent criteria for making a transfer request and a process for considering such requests. The Scheme Operators must not normally refuse requests to change employers and may only do so where there are significant reasons preventing a transfer, for example the imminent expiry of a worker’s visa. This is set out in published Home Office guidance, available at: Workers and Temporary Workers: guidance for sponsors: sponsor a seasonal worker - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

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 its response accordingly.