Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will meet with the Seasonal Worker Interest Group to discuss structural reforms to the visa scheme to protect workers from exploitation such as the charging of recruitment fees for those on a Seasonal Worker visa (Temporary Work).

A key objective of the route is to ensure that overseas workers are protected against modern slavery and other labour abuses. The sponsor licence regime places a broad range of responsibilities on Scheme Operators to ensure that the rights of migrant workers are protected.

The Government is carefully considering the Migration Advisory Committee’s review of the Seasonal Worker route and will announce a detailed response in due course. We will consider all these points in the round. Any question regarding tax and pension contributions will, however, need to be directed to the relevant Government departments.

Should the Seasonal Worker Interest Group wish to request a meeting with the Home Office Ministers, I would ask that they write to the department and any such request will be given appropriate consideration.