Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of ending the temporary visa concession for overseas sheep shearers on the UK agricultural sector; and if she will reconsider allowing experienced overseas sheep shearers, including those from New Zealand, to enter the UK on short-term seasonal work visas.

Concessionary arrangements are exceptional, temporary and subject to regular Ministerial review. The sheep shearing concession operated for 16 seasons from 2011 until 2026 and closed for a final time on 30 June this year. During this time, the sector has worked to develop skills and training within the domestic workforce with over 4,000 people trained as a shearer since 2021.

This year only 16 overseas shearers used the concession. The Home Office does not create bespoke immigration routes for a single profession, and it is not practical nor cost-effective to create a dedicated route for such a small number of workers. It is reasonable to expect that continued training efforts will allow the domestic labour supply to cover the workforce required for future shearing seasons.