Seasonal Worker Scheme confirmed for 2025
The Seasonal Worker visa route has been confirmed for 2025, with a total of 43,000 Seasonal Worker visas available for horticulture and 2,000 for poultry next year. Defra has also published the 2023 Seasonal Worker’s Survey report.
Seasonal Worker Scheme 2025 Visa allocation
The government has announced a package of measures to provide certainty and stability to farmers and growers in the UK’s horticulture, poultry and sheep sectors. Underlining the government’s commitment to the horticultural and poultry sectors, the Seasonal Worker visa route has been confirmed for 2025, with a total of 43,000 Seasonal Worker visas available for horticulture and 2,000 for poultry next year. This will provide certainty and will help the sector secure the labour and skills needed to bring high quality British produce, including strawberries, rhubarb, turkey, and daffodils to market. This is good news for the sector and provides certainty for the scheme during 2025.
Alongside this, the government is taking action to keep costs down and protect poultry farmers from the impact of avian influenza and delivering fairness in the supply chain for sheep farmers by ensuring producers receive a fair price for their livestock through legislation to mandate sheep carcase classification and price reporting.
2023 Seasonal Worker Scheme Survey Results
In addition, the 2023 Seasonal Workers Survey Results have been published. This is an important part of Defra’s commitment to monitoring the welfare of the seasonal migrant workers who help bring home the horticulture harvest each year.
Conducted in early 2024, 13,911 valid responses were received, an increase of 42.5% on the previous year and means that the survey findings reflect the views of a greater proportion of the 32,724 workers granted a Seasonal Worker visa.
The survey shows that the vast majority of respondents (91.0%) reported a positive experience from their time in the UK and 95% expressed a desire to return. The following areas were identified for future consideration:
- Workers understanding and trust of the complaints process
- Minimising the potential for workers to incur unnecessary costs before they arrive
- Issues around on-farm accommodation
- Ensuring fair payment and issues around what constitutes ‘full payment’
- Ensuring workers can receive sufficient hours of work
- Ensuring easy access to healthcare
ALP will be analysing these results and providing input on behalf of members to the Seasonal Worker Scheme Taskforce.