Westminster’s Scottish Affairs Committee has visited a number of horticulture businesses in Perthshire to hear about the impact immigration reforms are having on the workforce.
During the visit, members of the committee attended ornamental grower and plant wholesaler A&G Young, Glendoick Garden Centre and Arbuckle’s fruit and vegetable grower.
The horticulture and landscape industry in Scotland created £2.8bn of Gross Value Added in 2019 and supported over 64,000 jobs.
However, the Horticultural Trade Association (HTA) - which facilitated the visits - warned that the majority of its members reported shortages in labour recruitment.
Within immigration reforms, a visa for seasonal agricultural workers was retained. However, at present, ornamentals are unable to access the scheme as edibles are currently taking the full allocation of places.
The HTA has warned that with a deficit of around 3,000 workers, it could mean that trees, plants and bulbs are not produced.
While on the visit, the committee heard how difficult it is for growers to recruit locally and of the importance of seasonal workers from overseas. It also heard how the horticulture industry is making progress to reduce its use of plastic and to focus on horticulture that is environmentally sustainable.
Scottish Affairs Committee chair Pete Wishart MP said: “During our whistle-stop tour of unique businesses, we heard the stark reality of the changing immigration rules.
“The businesses have automated as much as they can but the human touch is so important - they can only have people doing the work so they can produce a diverse range of plants.
“The need for seasonal workers will not be going away,” Wishart added. “We were told that the local labour market is not interested in this seasonal work.
”These Scottish businesses who make a significant contribution to the local economy need to thrive, and need workers to do this - we were so impressed with the products that are being produced and the lack of workers should not be a barrier to get these products to market.”
Stan Green, chairman of the HTA’s Scotland policy development group, said: “Top of the challenge agenda is the current seasonal labour shortfalls – something that could be addressed by the UK Government giving further consideration to increasing numbers for Ornamental Horticulture under the Seasonal Workers Scheme.
“Our customers want to buy British plants and yet we don’t have enough labour to increase production and satisfy that demand.”
Last November, representatives from industry bodies for logistics, hospitality and agriculture all called on the UK and Scottish governments for more support to deal with the pressure caused by the current labour shortage in those sectors.
The committee held a one-off evidence session examining the issues, following several months of UK-wide shortages of heavy goods vehicle drivers and agricultural workers as a result of Covid-19 and the post-Brexit immigration system.
Immigration is reserved, and the UK Government has made clear that businesses should reduce their reliance on foreign labour.
David Michie, policy manager for crops at the National Famers’ Union Scotland, said at the time that the removal of freedom of movement to and from the UK and Europe has had a huge impact on horticulture, with the New Workers pilot scheme put in place by the UK Government not going far enough to alleviate difficulties recruiting local workers.
He said that new initiatives were "desperately needed", explaining that the nature of seasonal work like fruit picking meant it suited those coming to earn good money for a few month's worth of hard work, rather than those looking to earn a living year round.
"The nature of the work has changed so much in the last few decades - it’s temporary transient and communal, starting at 5am and more of a short term work experience, than a job for local people.
"We did a survey of our members and 85% said labour shortages are impacting their business decisions, with many looking to leave the industry - that could lead to a retraction of economic activity, which will be particularly damaging to the rural economy.
"There has been significant wage inflation in horticulture, but we're still faced with low levels of recruitment of local workers," Michie continued, adding that there are likely to be more imported goods from other countries, because labour is around 40% of the cost for horticulture businesses.
"Unless there’s a change in migration policy, produce from around the world will displace that produced in Scotland."
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