VISA SCHEME FOR SEASONAL WORKERS AND INVESTMENT IN AUTOMATION GEARED AT IMPROVING SKILLS SHORTAGE.
IN response to John Shropshire’s Independent Review into Labour Shortages in the Food Supply Chain, the UK government has announced a number of measures which it is hoped the British potato industry will benefit from.
This includes extending the seasonal worker visa route for five years until 2029, announcing up to £50 million of funding for new technology to support fully-automated packhouses, and creating a strategy to enhance skills provision and attract domestic workers.
The government has ramped up its support for the use of automation in the sector to reduce the reliance on migrant workers.
A government news announcement states: “This will start with immediate work to fully automate a group of major packhouses in 12 to 18 months, which will improve understanding of the government support needed to make fully automated packhouses universally viable. Information learned from this will help inform our planned £50 million package of packhouse automation funding, with further details to be announced later this year to cover 2024-25 and 2025-26.”
Country Land and Business Association (CLA) President Victoria Vyvyan said has said the extension of the seasonal workers visa scheme to 2029 is welcome, as she believes migrant workers are vital for the ongoing viability of the potato sector and other horticultural sectors.
She said greater efforts need to be made attracting people into the industry from the UK workforce. “There are considerable skills gaps and there needs to be more focus in schools and colleges on making it a more attractive career choice and encouraging those from a non-farming background into the industry,” she said.
“Increased automation will help fill labour shortages to an extent, but this requires significant investment and the costs may be prohibitive for some businesses. A lack of affordable housing in rural areas goes hand-in-hand with labour issues, with many workers unable to afford to live in the countryside. The planning system must support small-scale developments, adding small numbers of homes to a large number of villages.”
The Food and Drink Federation has previously strongly encouraged the Government to work with industry to address the skills issue, with its own research showing the UK food and drink industry have suffered substantially because of output losses.
FDF Director for Growth Balwinder Dhoot said: “Significant labour shortages have cost businesses £1.4bn over the last year, with companies being forced to leave vacancies unfilled and reduce production – all of which contributes to rising wage bills, higher prices and stifles growth, which is vital for a strong economy.
“Investment is essential if we are to build a sustainable and resilient food supply chain which supports the economy and feeds the nation.”
