Defra’s automation in horticulture review argues that the year-to-year confirmation of the SWS has acted as a disincentive to farmers to invest in automation. The first recommendation in the review, is that the SWS should be extended as it will incentivise long-term capital investments, including in automation technology. Automation in horticulture is still emerging and developing, and both availability of automated processes and their adoption at individual sites is likely to be piecemeal, with other parts of the process continuing to require labour.
https://diigo.com/0y5jh7

Results of reports must be shared quickly to enable prompt action, and penalties for non-compliance should also be raised.
Automation in horticulture is still emerging and developing, and both availability of automated processes and their adoption at individual sites is likely to be piecemeal, with other parts of the process continuing to require labour.
Some of the larger horticultural businesses are major local employers, therefore the loss of one would have a big impact on the local area, particularly as they are more likely to be in rural areas where there are fewer other employment opportunities.
Any release of additional numbers would be made on condition that the 45,000 cap had been reached and in response to economic evidence of further recruitment need.


Provide certainty around the future of the scheme
For non-users, this also caused concerns about whether Seasonal Workers would fit with their organisations. Scheme operators could allay these concerns by providing more information to employers in advance. Other issues noted among employers were scheme operators not providing the number of workers they had requested, and unexpectedly receiving workers who did not have a full 6-month visa remaining. One employer experienced having to pay the recruitment fee multiple times as a result of employee transfers.

EUSS
Several employers have called for a more streamlined process, further discussion on compliance and the potential for a single enforcement body is covered in Chapter 5. It is possible that any increase in the cost of recruiting Seasonal Workers as a result of an EPP would raise prices, and concerns were expressed that supermarkets would not pay the increased costs of produce. The British Retail Consortium (BRC) have suggested that the EPP model could be implemented if costs were shared along the full length of the supply chain, including supermarkets. In May 2024 various civil society groups addressed the 9 big supermarkets in the UK in an open letter to call for the introduction of the EPP across their supply chains including on the SWS; in response all 9 supermarkets endorsed the EPP in principle. The Horticultural Sector Committee argues that greater flexibility is needed within use of the apprenticeship levy to allow funding, or an alternative funding programme, to be used to support Seasonal Workers. The Independent Review argues that the funding should support welfare education and training schemes for Seasonal Workers.

Economic impacts of the scheme: Workers
There is no formal Home Office mechanism for requesting that the worker should return to the UK for subsequent seasons (the applicant simply makes a fresh application). However, in practice returnees are very important to scheme operators and employers (as we discuss in Chapter 4). https://www.openlearning.com/u/ydetyler-qw6y09/blog/GuidelinesForEffectiveTranslationOfKoreanTextsToEnglishPlayACrucialRoleInEnsuringHighQualityTranslations Both scheme operators and employers often have systems to register workers’ interest in returning and employers’ interest in having the same worker back.
Employers suggested that this was due to poor vetting, screening, andinterviewing by scheme operators and a lack of knowledge about the job, resulting in operators selecting unsuitable and unprepared candidates. https://postheaven.net/carlsendickerson76/title-professional-english-to-hebrew-document-translation-services We found, however, that the presentation we attended in Kyrgyzstan was very clear about the nature of the work and conditions involved, and that many of the workers we spoke to had prior experience of the SWS. There were also complaints from some employers about a lack of information on workers’ background and experience prior to arrival, which they said made matching workers to jobs difficult.


A non-profit organisation that operates independently of government, often with the purpose of addressing a social or political issue. The Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration monitors and reports on the efficiency and effectiveness of the immigration, asylum, nationality and customs functions carried out by the Home Office. The Chief Inspector is a public appointee and independent from government; their reports are laid before Parliament. There was also discriminatory behaviour/preferential treatment reported which included some nationalities being treated favourably whilst others were denied work or hours or were shouted at and humiliated.
Recruiting returnees may reduce the likelihood of extra payments in the recruitment chain as they will have greater knowledge of the scheme requirements. Some organisations have called for remediation for those who have paid illegal recruitment fees. We agree with the Independent Review that these should be in place in all key source countries and would encourage the new government to follow the same approach. Those requesting an increased visa length tended to specify 9 months as desirable in horticulture, although there was demand from mushroom growers for a specific scheme that could last up to 2 years. The House of Lords Horticulture Sector Committee has said that a 9-month visa would lower recruitment and training costs for growers, increase efficiency, and help to retain talent on UK farms.
A large vegetable and salad producer prefers to have returnee workers at the start of their season when they are busiest. Therefore, to ensure workers are not blocked to return by the requirement to spend 6 months overseas this employer had workers leave the organisation site between 2-4 weeks before the end of season. The employer then had to factor in a reduced workforce at the end of season, while the workers may have missed out on a period of earnings. Seasonal workers receive relatively low wages which means they will pay modest amounts of income tax.
Meanwhile, almost all of the UK’s supply of poultry (82% in 2023) and around half of the UK’s supply of ornamentals (55%) are produced domestically. The SWV is currently only available to foreign workers wanting to undertake jobs within horticulture (ornamental and edible), or poultry farming. The MAC’s EEA report (2018) set out the logic behind the reintroduction of a Seasonal Worker Scheme alongside a recommendation that otherwise, sector-based schemes should be avoided and that any future Seasonal Agricultural Worker Scheme (SAWS) should ensure upward pressure on wages. A new version of SAWS called the Seasonal Worker Scheme (SWS) was subsequently piloted in 2019. Separate Seasonal Work Visas (SWVs) for the poultry sector were introduced in late 2021 following labour shortages in the sector. Horticulture SWVs allow workers to spend up to 6 months in the UK, whereas poultry workers are restricted to the Christmas peak season from October to December.