Visas tripled to boost migrant fruit and veg pickers

Move comes despite surging unemployment in UK and a summer appeal to 'Pick for Britain'

Workers pick strawberries at a fruit farm in Hereford
Workers pick strawberries at a fruit farm in Hereford Credit: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg

Visas for migrant fruit and vegetable pickers are to be increased to 30,000 next year amid fears that there will not be enough British workers to fill the jobs and meet the demand.

The numbers represent a potential trebling from the 10,000 temporary migrant workers allowed to enter this year amid concerns that farmers may struggle to fill the 50,000 posts needed to bring in the fruit and vegetable harvest in the next year.

The move comes despite surging unemployment in the UK due to the Covid pandemic and appeals in the summer to create a new "army" of British workers willing to "Pick for Britain" in the face of international travel restrictions.

Ben Greening, the executive director of Migration Watch, said: "It's madness. As the lockdown proved, there are lots of people in the UK willing to do it if they are paid a decent wage and treated well. Tens of thousands of jobs will not be available to the rising number of UK jobless.

"This Government is hopeless on immigration – it is essentially giving in to big business and big agriculture on everything they demand."

Farmers, however, welcomed the visas after struggling this summer and autumn to plug gaps in their picking teams, for which they continued to fly in primarily East European workers despite quarantine and travel restrictions.

One former senior National Farmers' Union official said: "It's aspiration against practicality. There were some attempts in the summer to try to use furloughed people. But while they initially thought it was a lovely job to work in the field, as soon as they got into the bath with their aches and pains, that was the end of that. There is not the preparedness in local people to do it."

Farmers reported a mixed experience of "Pick for Britain" the national campaign to recruit domestic workers. Initial data showed that out of 50,000 home-grown applicants, 6,000 opted for an interview but only 112 took up the offer of a role on a UK farm.

Migrant workers from Romania and Bulgaria arrived in Britain in May to pick fruit in Angus, Tayside, Fife and Worcestershire
Migrant workers from Romania and Bulgaria arrived in Britain in May to pick fruit in Angus, Tayside, Fife and Worcestershire Credit: Stuart Nicol 

Other farmers, however, found they could operate a blend of local new workers but still needed a significant proportion of seasoned East European staff to ensure they got the harvest in and train up British recruits.

The Home Office said it decided 30,000 visas were needed "having considered the availability of domestic workers, including those EU nationals with settled status". 

It said the number of visas would be reviewed during 2021 "with a view towards helping the sector transition to a future state based on automated technologies and a motivated domestic workforce".

Tom Bradshaw, the NFU vice president, welcomed the recognition of the need for seasonal workers at key times and the Government's message "that it is important for Britain to be able to produce its own fruit and veg, which has huge potential for growth".

David George, a spokesman for the South-West NFU, said there were concerns about travel restrictions that could prevent all 30,000 seasonal workers coming into the UK. 

"Covid is likely to have an impact, as we have seen with Dover this week. Even without Brexit that's going to be the next challenge," Mr George said.

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