Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the risk of labour shortages in the event of changes to immigration rules, and (2) the possibility of the exploitation of workers as a consequence of these shortages; and what steps they intend to take to ensure that workers are protected.

The Government has been clear free movement is ending, and a new immigration system will be introduced from January 2021. The independent Migration Advisory Committee has been clear immigration is not the solution to addressing shortages in the labour market.

The Government is committed to tackling labour exploitation across all sectors of the labour market and protecting workers’ rights. Through the Immigration Act 2016, we have widened the remit of the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority giving it new powers under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) 1984 to investigate serious labour market offences.

We recently ran a public consultation on the establishment of a new Single Enforcement Body for employment rights. We will publish a response to this consultation in due course.