The National Farmers’ Union (NFU) has welcomed confirmation from the government on the seasonal worker visa allocation, but has warned that a long-term scheme is still needed to provide certainty to the industry.
The government announced the extension of the Seasonal Worker Scheme (SWS) for 2025, which allocates 43,000 visas for horticulture and 2,000 for poultry.
The previous conservative government had confirmed the extension of the SWS earlier this year, however, following the general election, the new government had not confirmed whether this would be carried forwards until now.
The announcement comes after NFU president Tom Bradshaw met with the then shadow secretary, Yvette Cooper back in May 2024, and again with new secretary, Steve Reed, post labour’s election victory, to highlight the significance of the visa scheme.
Seasonal Worker Scheme
For several months, the NFU has reminded the government of the critical role of seasonal workers within the horticulture and poultry industries over the last number of years, particularly in terms of food security and environmental delivery.
In their repeated calls to renew the SWS, the NFU has cited the positive experience had by many of the visa applicants on British farms, as demonstrated by the 2023 Seasonal Workers Survey, which found that 95% of respondents expressed a desire to return to the UK for work.
Access to labour is one of the key priorities for the NFU’s national poultry board, as well as one of 10 key building blocks identified by the NFU in a strategy aimed at creating long-term growth within the horticulture sector.
Responding to the announcement, Bradshaw spoke of the relief felt by many in the industry upon hearing the news as they will now be able to plan for the year ahead, with the scheme in mind.
However, he pointed to the fact that many of these businesses plan their operations years in advance, instead of year to year, and that more notice of schemes pertaining to labour availability will be required in the future, if producers are to maximise capacity.
Bradshaw also outlined the impacts that labour shortages have had on farmers and growers, particularly on confidence levels, which are reportedly at “an all-time low”.
He believes labour barriers and lack of long-term certainty has impeded growth prospects within the agri-sector, despite stakeholder ambitions.
“The recent recommendations by the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) recognised how significantly important the SWS is to domestic food security and the vital need for a long-term scheme.
“We urge the government to publish its response to the MAC report as soon as possible, to give farming and growing businesses the confidence needed to invest in the country’s food security and deliver for its environmental targets.
“We don’t want to see a return to empty supermarket shelves or further years where £22 million of crops are left to rot in the fields and we want to ensure consumers have access to their favourite Christmas centrepiece during the festive season.
“We have an ambitious industry that wants to drive productivity to support the health and wellbeing of our nation, but action is needed to make this a reality.
“Moving forward, we need to see assurances of a long-term SWS and the government’s response to the MAC report,” Bradshaw said in a statement.
