Extracts from Committee stage of the Immigration and Social Security Co-ordination (EU Withdrawal) Bill - Feb 26t

Wednesday, 27 February 2019 08:06

Afzal Khan (Manchester, Gorton) (Lab) The other point that I wish to raise relates to the seasonal agricultural workers scheme. The Government have been forced to reintroduce a pilot scheme for 2,500 workers from outside the EU. Although billed as such, Ministers claim that it will alleviate the labour shortage created by the abolition of the seasonal agricultural workers scheme in 2013. In its previous form, the scheme recruited 22,000...Request free trial

Afzal Khan (Manchester, Gorton) (Lab)

The other point that I wish to raise relates to the seasonal agricultural workers scheme. The Government have been forced to reintroduce a pilot scheme for 2,500 workers from outside the EU. Although billed as such, Ministers claim that it will alleviate the labour shortage created by the abolition of the seasonal agricultural workers scheme in 2013. In its previous form, the scheme recruited 22,000 workers. The current pilot is tiny in relation to the number of workers needed. As we have seen, the National Farmers Union was “outraged” by the scrapping of the SAWS and called the current pilot inadequate.

Stuart C. McDonald (Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East) (SNP)

I wanted to speak briefly to these amendments. First, I note how unusual and exciting it is to be debating substantive provisions of immigration law. One of the key points that I make throughout this process is that this is a rare occurrence. We get to what would usually be shoved into immigration rules or a statement of changes; it is then passed through Parliament, and the Bill becomes law without anyone realising that it is happening—never mind having a chance to debate it. Perhaps we could even suggest amendments to the shadow Minister to improve his draft new clauses. I welcome what he has done in proposing substantive immigration policy in a way that allows MPs to come and have a say. Our take on what he has said about the SAWS and the evidence we heard from National Farmers Union Scotland was that the pilot scheme was not enough. We welcomed the pilot, but 2,500 places are not enough. I think that the number that was mentioned that would be sufficient was 10,000. That is against the background that National Farmers Union Scotland was also absolutely and clearly in favour of retaining the free movement of people.

David Duguid (Banff and Buchan) (Con)

Coming from a constituency that is agricultural as well as fishing, I recognise a lot of the concerns that have been raised by National Farmers Union Scotland. Does the hon. Member agree that Andrew McCornick, the president of NFU Scotland, also stated, not in evidence to this Committee but in previous evidence, that he would like the immigration system to open up to employees from outside the EEA as well?

Stuart C. McDonald

I am happy to acknowledge that evidence. The two things are not inconsistent: to attain free movement of people we have got to have a seasonal agricultural workers scheme to allow access to labour from outside the EU as well. Even with free movement of people, there is still a huge recruitment problem. There are crops and fruit going unpicked.

As we have seen, countries from which farmers were able to recruit previously, such as Poland, have caught up. In fact, they have job offers from other parts of the EU. Subsequently, farmers were recruiting more from Romania, but again, the economy and wages there have caught up slightly and there are also alternative employment options elsewhere. So there is already a recruitment crisis, even though we have had free movement of labour. There must be a two-pronged approach here: retain free moment and at the same time have a proper seasonal agricultural workers scheme to allow farmers and others to recruit from outside the EU as well. The SAWS pilot is welcome but it is not enough: we need the free movement of people as well.

In other evidence, NFU Scotland stated that the proposals for a no-deal scenario were not remotely sufficient for its purposes. There is the strange three months, then a three-year visa, if you are successful. NFU Scotland thought that that would put employers at a competitive disadvantage. They would only be able to say to folk, “We are trying to recruit. You can come for three months and possibly you will be able to stay on beyond that”. They need people to have that guarantee up front. Some—but not enough—will be able to do that through the pilot...

The Minister for Immigration (Caroline Nokes)

We did hear evidence in which people expressed concerns about the temporary routes, but we also heard from the agricultural sector, which was keen that there should be some. I vividly remember some evidence that indicated that temporary routes would inevitably—that was the word used—lead to exploitation. In the rebuttal from the National Farmers Union, however, we were given much evidence about workers on temporary contracts who returned year after year. That suggests that short-term routes would not inevitably lead to exploitation.

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