Government needs to look again at SAWS - NFU
18 October 2007
The NFU has expressed disappointment at the conclusion of a report which claims UK and EU labour can meet the requirements of the UK economy and has urged the Government to increase the number of Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme permits available.
James Potter, the NFU's senior legal adviser, said the conclusions of the report, entitled 'The economic and fiscal impact of immigration', did not reflect the real situation facing agriculture and horticulture when it came to employing seasonal labour.
Mr Potter said: "Our agricultural labour force survey earlier this year indicated that there was a continuing need for non-EU agricultural workers to have access to our labour market on a seasonal basis and then return home. Accordingly, we are asking that the present 16,250 SAWS work permits be raised to 21,000 to compensate for the declining participation of workers from other EU countries in our sector.
"We are also unhappy with the Government's view of giving preference to EU workers including Bulgarians and Romanians when other EU member states are more relaxed and allow their agricultural sectors to use non-EU temporary workers.
"The old SAWS allowed non-EU students to work on farms here for up to six months, then they had to return to higher education in their country of origin. SAWS next year will only be open to Bulgarians and Romanians who, after their six months farm work in the UK, will be allowed to stay here but will not be allowed to find legal employment except as nannies, diplomatic staff, or by becoming self employed."
Mr Potter said that while the formation of a Migration Advisory Committee to advise the Government on the changing needs of the labour market was welcome there were concerns about the time it would take to recruit workers.
"Businesses can't survive periods of severe labour shortages, and recruitment is time-consuming," he said.
