To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Home Secretary on the effect of immigration rules on the seasonal agricultural workforce in Wales.
Answered on
5 July 2017
Defra Ministers are having ongoing discussions with a range of government departments, including the Home Office about the sector’s concerns about securing the workforce that it needs for the future.
Until we have left the EU, the UK will remain a member with all of the rights and obligations that membership entails, and employers in the agricultural and food processing sectors are free to continue to recruit EU workers to meet their labour needs.
For the longer-term, we are considering the options for our future immigration system very carefully, and will look to develop a system which works for the whole United Kingdom.