‘Government is not listening’ – NFU hits out at lack of action on seasonal labour

“We have got hundreds of thousands of pounds’ worth of turnover which businesses will never get back, and I am being told the last two years I have been crying wolf.

“Well, it has arrived now. The problem is here.”

Ms Capper also criticised the political rhetoric around immigration, which meant the number of people committing to return next year had ‘fallen off a cliff’.

Many feared the money they spent on a flight to the UK would be wasted if they were stopped at the border and sent home.

Biometric

Workers are concerned about having to post their identification to the Home Office too, a requirement for those without biometric ID cards, who currently make up 95 per cent of seasonal staff.

Ms Capper said: “The return rates are really important. For 2016, the average across industry was 41 per cent. For the good farms, the return rate is 70-80 per cent.

“If we do not get those returnees, the scale of the recruitment challenge is so much harder.

“Do I think we have got a Government which is listening? I am afraid I do not.”

The Home Office has previously said the Seasonal Workers Pilot, which allows 2,500 workers from outside the EU to enter the UK, will be kept under ongoing review to determine long-term arrangements.