Oral Answers to Questions

Antoinette Sandbach Excerpts

Thursday 9th May 2019 Commons Chamber

[Dr Coffey]

Village halls are used for a variety of purposes, including the provision of health services, which are also available in the voluntary sector. I commend the hon. Gentleman’s suggestion on how we can continue to use village halls to support farmers locally.

[Antoinette Sandbach (Eddisbury) (Con)]

2. What steps he is taking to ensure that farmers have access to the workforce that they need during the harvest.

[The Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Mr Robert Goodwill)]

DEFRA is working closely with the Home Office on the future immigration framework as part of the longer-term strategy for labour in the food chain. The seasonal workers pilot is now open, and the first workers have arrived on UK farms.

[Antoinette Sandbach]

Eddisbury is the home of high-quality dairy farming and produces much of the country’s milk. However, dairy farmers in Cheshire are having huge problems with staff recruitment. What steps is the Department taking to ensure that the £30,000 annual earnings threshold for migrant workers post Brexit will not apply to farm workers?

[Mr Goodwill]

As I have said, DEFRA is working closely with the Home Office on this issue. The Government are committed to ensuring that a wide range of stakeholders have an opportunity to contribute their views and shape the development of the future immigration policy. That is why the Government have embarked on an extensive programme of targeted engagement with businesses and other stakeholders across the UK.