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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the number of seasonal agricultural workers who are paying agencies or companies an introductory fee for arranging employment on UK farms.

As part of Defra’s Request for Information (RFI) process for the selection of the Seasonal Workers Scheme operators, the participants must confirm that they will not place any additional charges on participating migrants, beyond the administration of the Extended Pilot, and that they (and their agents) will not charge work-finding fees.

The Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) assess overseas labour providers when they apply for a licence to be a part of the Seasonal Workers Scheme. Charging recruitment fees would be a breach of the licensing standards. Any labour provider found to be in breach of the licensing standards is not provided with a licence or would have their licence revoked. To date, no licence holder part of the Seasonal Workers Scheme has been found to be in breach of the standards related to recruitment fees.