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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the evidential basis is for his Department's decision that the appropriate number of operators for the seasonal worker visa route is five horticultural operators and two poultry operators.

The appropriate number of operators is a collaborative decision made by Defra and the Home Office. It is based on operator capacity to source seasonal workers and uphold sponsorship responsibilities, ensuring the visa route is well managed and worker welfare and exploitation risks are mitigated.

In 2019 and 2020, the Seasonal Workers visa route had two operators for 2,500 visas and 10,000 visas respectively. In 2021 and 2022 there were four operators for 30,000 visas and, to accommodate for the release of the extra 10,000 visas (8,000 visas going to the horticulture sector and 2,000 to the poultry sector) several additional operators will be required.