Lord Redesdale
Main Page: Lord Redesdale (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Lord Redesdale
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to provide support to the British farming industry to combat (1) increased production costs resulting from the ongoing labour shortages, and (2) increased competition from the Australian and New Zealand markets.
Lord Redesdale (LD)
My Lords, I must start by declaring my interests as set out in the register. I thank all noble Lords taking part in this debate—however brief the time they have—and the noble Baroness, Lady Bloomfield, for taking part on behalf of the Minister who, I believe, is self-isolating with Covid.
The purpose of this debate is to raise two major issues, both of which are a result of Brexit. I know those issues were debated as part of speeches about Brexit, and the problems associated with it could be seen as an “I told you so” but that is probably not the most progressive way of looking at these issues. I was looking just at labour shortages, because both issues are enormous subjects, especially for an hour-long debate. However, the issue of free trade agreements was very live on the doorstep in North Shropshire during the recent by-election, where we managed to return the most excellent Helen Morgan as the MP. It is an issue that the farming community takes very seriously. The purpose of linking those two issues together is to look at the short-term issues that the industry faces, but also the longer-term issues raised.
Obviously, we are in a period of transition where we are moving from the CAP which, for all its faults—having debated it many times, I know that there were many—gave farmers an underlying, sustainable subsidy regime for the financial models on which they could base their business. The issue at the moment is that the Government are formulating policies to replace that subsidy regime. I ask a question which is asked many times: is it the Government’s intention to maintain the current farm payments until the new Brexit support scheme is rolled out in full and in place? Is there any basis in the reports that farmers could lose half their money in the next four years, because that would drive thousands of family farms out of business? Any information the Minister can give on that would be very helpful.
Looking at the different issues, I start with labour shortages. This is a Brexit issue, because British agriculture was particularly reliant on the freedom of movement of EU workers before Brexit and, to meet our needs, will continue to be after Brexit. Almost all the 70,000 seasonal workers in fruit picking and vegetable harvesting were from eastern Europe in 2017, according to the National Farmers’ Union, and in 2018, a report by the Migration Advisory Committee said that 99% of seasonal agricultural workers were from EU countries. The present position across the whole of the agriculture and food sector is that there are about half a million job vacancies, which is of course causing major problems.
For the horticultural sector, this shortage of workers means that some crops remain unpicked. Apparently, in June this year, 30% of daffodils were unable to be harvested or were picked later than planned due to labour shortages. Some produce is also being left in storage for longer. For the poultry sector, it means that production has had to be cut back. There is a particular need for flowers and fruits in the ornamental sector to be included in this debate because they are often overlooked.
Looking at the meat sector, some abattoirs are operating shorter weeks. Meat processing plants are also struggling to recruit, with knock-on effects throughout the food chain. The situation is being worsened because of the shortage of lorry drivers, which means that, even when a product is available, it cannot always reach its destination. Recently, I heard of a situation where there is a problem because larger companies are prepared to pay more for lorry drivers; this has a knock-on effect on smaller companies, which cannot afford the higher wages.
The chronic staff shortages in the supply chain mean that all businesses—farmers, growers, wholesalers and manufacturers—are having to offer incentives to retain and recruit staff, raising costs throughout the sector. Of course, this problem has been exacerbated for a number of reasons, such as Covid-related travel restrictions, self-isolation rules and EU nationals returning home to be with their families. However, it is also based on the UK’s new points-based immigration system, which coincides with the free movement of EU citizens ending because of Brexit. In the UK, as with many developed countries, seasonal work has relied on migrant labour; that is not likely to change in the short term.
I always find it funny that people call pickers unskilled labour. If you look at the difference between migrant labourers who know what they are doing and those people who are learning, there can be a massive difference in the amount that they can undertake during the day. Despite help from the Department for Work and Pensions through its matchmaker scheme, which linked growers to Jobcentre Plus offices, growers have struggled to recruit UK workers. There are negative perceptions of the sector and UK workers are often not attracted to seasonal work because travelling to rural locations is difficult and costly; it often requires living on farms; and the work can be irregular and is often temporary, which is a major setback.
Short-term solutions could include the introduction of a 12-month Covid recovery visa. This would enable all involved in the supply chain to recruit to critical roles and significantly reduce the labour shortages currently being faced. It would alleviate the pressure on the sector and give it the time it needs to continue to recruit and train domestic staff. The NFU has also called for permanent seasonal workers schemes for the UK horticulture industry and a seasonal workers scheme for the poultry sector. These would enable farmers to plan and create stability in the supply chain.
Longer-term asks promoted by the NFU include the agricultural sector being promoted as a career choice and reversing the negative perception of many of the job roles in the industry. This should include having a co-ordinated approach to skills and training. Relevant food and drink courses should be added to the list of level 3 adult courses eligible for the £95 million lifetime skills guarantee. This would help to bridge the widening skills gap with overseas workers while working to attract and train home-grown workers. The Government’s youth mobility scheme could also be extended to cover European and other relevant countries, such as Ukraine. This would enable some flexibility in the labour market to meet the demand for roles that do not meet the criteria for the skilled worker’s role.
Another idea could be to look at greater flexibility in how the apprenticeship levy can be used to enable businesses to train and upskill staff. Of course, the simplest thing, however, would be to look at a change in the immigration policy, because I think that there has been a change in people’s view of immigration. It is not as much of a concern as it was in the run-up to Brexit.
The two other issues are the Australia and New Zealand free trade agreements. There has been concern across the industry that, in the move to sign up to these agreements as quickly as possible, the needs of the agricultural industry have been set aside because exports to this country from Australia and New Zealand are of course heavily predominated by lamb and beef products. Although there is a 15-year period over which this transition could take place, it seems that the amount involved will put added pressure on the sheep and beef sector in this country. However, in looking at some of the trade that New Zealand is undertaking, I was interested to see that a lot of it will be diverted to China and the Pacific countries as they get a taste for lamb in particular.
I will end with one point highlighting the degree of anxiety that these issues are causing; of course, I have not even started on the major problem of energy prices. I read in the oral evidence given to the Select Committee in another place on 26 October last year a line in which Tom Bradshaw, vice-president of the NFU, summed up the fear that many in the industry feel. He said:
“I have never seen the industry in the position it is in at the moment and the real lack of confidence is crippling the sector.”