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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether (a) current and (b) former workers on the horticultural seasonal worker visa were given the opportunity to inform the independent review into labour shortages in the food supply chain, published on 30 June 2023.

The Independent Review of Labour Shortages in the Food Supply Chain was published on June 30^th, 2023. Since it was an independent review Defra is not responsible for commenting on the specific evidence used to shape the final report, but notes that the Review does contain a Methodology section with more information that may be of interest. However, Defra does undertake an annual survey of workers involved in the Seasonal Worker visa route and this information was made available to the review team.

The Government will consider the Review’s recommendations and publish a Government response in the autumn.