Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of using tier 3 visas to tackle labour shortages in the soft fruit industry.

We remain closely engaged with industry to ensure that we are informed of the latest intelligence on the labour market.

The Home Office intends to commission the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to better understand the reliance on EU migrant workers across the economy and consider the UK’s labour market needs.

The number of non-UK workers in the agriculture and horticulture sector after we leave the EU will depend on the final shape of domestic immigration policy.