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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans the Government has to ensure UK food security in the context of seasonal temporary worker labour shortages.

Overall, the food supply in the United Kingdom is highly resilient and the food industry is well versed in dealing with scenarios that impact food supply. However, Defra is aware of the impact that labour shortages are having on the food supply chain and we continue to work closely with industry to monitor the situation and to help our world-leading farmers and food producers access the labour they need. To inform future decisions on labour across the sector, Defra recently launched an independent review into labour shortages in the food supply chain, and it will report in spring 2023.

The Seasonal Worker visa route was specifically designed to support the UK horticulture sector where growers typically require higher volumes of labour, for relatively short-term periods of time, in line with seasonal production peaks. In recognition of the short-term peak demand for poultry workers in the run up to Christmas, in June 2022 HM Government added these workers to the visa route.

As announced on 24 December last year, the Seasonal Worker visa route will continue to operate until at least the end of 2024. A total of 40,000 visas are available in 2022, of which 2000 are allocated to poultry workers and the rest for horticulture. The new HM Government is carefully considering the position on visa quotas for 2023 and we will say more in due course.