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THECOMMERCIAL GREENHOUSEGROWER • APRIL 2017
• NEWS
LATEST
NEWS
New seasonal workers’
scheme dismissed by
HomeOffice
Immigrationminister Robert Goodwill has all but ruledout
a new seasonal agricultural workers’ scheme to address
what some growers are expecting tobe a crisis in labour
supply following theUK’s decision to leave theEU.
Speaking at aHouse of Commons Environment, Food
andRural Affairs (EFRA) select committee hearing in
March, for its inquiry on labour constraints in food
production,Mr Goodwill, who is himself a farmer, said
therewasn’t enough evidence to justify such a scheme in
2017 and that it wouldbe too late to introduce one for this
year anyway.
He said that the evidencepointed to year-on-year
increases inworkers arriving fromBulgaria andRomania.
“The stats have reassuredme that wedo not have a
problem this year,” he said. “Wewill keep this under
review. Of course, as long aswe remainmembers of the
EuropeanUnion¬– so for the next two years –wewill
have freedomofmovement.”
Mr Goodwill said that tooperate a scheme in that period,
which theNFU has beenpressing for, suggestswe
needed to attract people from countries outside theEU,
while unemployment in the southof Europewas running
at very high levels. “If theproblem is that, because of the
weakness of thepound, the euro equivalent wage has
comedown andothers becomemore competitive, it is
up to the industry to respond through theway it pays
wages,” he said.
But he alsopointedout that part of the long-term solution
was for food and farming to reduce its reliance onmigrant
labour and usemoreUKworkers. “Wewill continue to
workwith the sector tomonitor the situation and find
sustainable solutions to labour supply issueswhere they
arise,” he said.
He told the hearing that the government was planning
a consultation across thewhole economy toget a
better picture of thedemands for bothEU and non-EU
labour and that businesses in all sectors, but agriculture in
particular, shouldbe reassured that therewouldbe
no ‘cliff edges’ over which theywould fall in terms of
labour supply.
A seasonal agricultural workers’ schemewas also
discussedby theHouse of Lords select committee on
economic affairs, whichhas beenholding an inquiry on
Brexit and the labourmarket. The topicwas raised, too,
inquestions in theHouse of Commons at thebeginning
ofMarch.
Meanwhile, at a jointmeeting inMarchof theEuropean
scrutiny andEFRA committees on the impact of Brexit on
agriculture and fisheries, farmingminister GeorgeEustice
said it wouldbe ‘relatively straightforward’ to agree some
kindof protocol where technical expertise on issues
such as pesticides couldbe sharedbetween theEU
and theUK.
He said it was likely theEUwouldbe keen todo so
because “theUKhas Europe’s leadingpesticide experts”
while only eight of the 28member states “can really
afford to have the number of scientists that you need to
understandpesticide science in thedepthnecessary.”
Views canvassed on retailers’
code compliance
Groceries code adjudicator Christine Tacon is inviting
growers to takepart inher fourth annual survey of the
groceries sector, whichwill allowher to collect views on
howwell the 10 regulated retailers are complyingwith the
GroceriesSupplyCode of Practice.
The surveywill helpMs Tacon todecide onwhich issues
to focus in the year ahead. It canbe completed at www.
yougov.com/gca and closes onApril 17. Individual
responseswill remain strictly confidential but overall
resultswill bepresented at the adjudicator’s annual
conference, which takes place this year on June 26 in
Westminster, London.
One issue inMs Tacon’s top five last year was
payments for better positioningof goods or increased
shelf space in stores, which the codedoes not allow
unless thepayment ismade in relation to apromotion.
She launched a consultation last year to findoutmore
about practices relating to suchpayments and their
impact ondirect suppliers.
Inher report on that consultation, recently published, she
concluded that while therewas some anecdotal evidence
of practices thatmight be inbreachof the code, she
didn’t receive enough information to support the need for
interpretative guidance or other regulatory intervention.
Shedid find, though, retailersmoving tobringpractices
into linewith the code’s requirements since her
appointment in2013. “This is consistent with the general
improvement in compliancewith the code and reinforces
thebenefits ofmy collaborative approach,” she said.
