UK food industry faces risk of ‘permanent shrinkage’, MPs warn

The UK food industry may shrink permanently if ministers fail to address labour shortages from Brexit and coronavirus that have already resulted in mass pig culling and crops being left to rot, MPs have warned.

The House of Commons environment, food and rural affairs select committee said the government had repeatedly ignored attempts by farmers and food processors to engage on labour shortages, leaving the industry chronically short of staff.

MPs on the cross-party committee said the more than £100bn sector “faces permanent shrinkage if a failure to address its acute labour shortages leads to wage rises, price increases, reduced competitiveness and, ultimately, food production being exported abroad and increased imports”.

The committee report said ministers had failed to plan for expected changes and that emergency measures brought in so far had been “too little, too late”.

Before the UK left the EU, the food industry relied heavily on continental European workers who settled in Britain under free movement. The committee said a pilot scheme admitting seasonal overseas workers for harvesting should be made permanent and expanded to 40,000 visas this year from 30,000.

It added that the skilled workers visa scheme, which admits people under the post-Brexit points-based system, should be reviewed to address costs and complexity and “tailor . . . the English language requirement to meet the needs of the sector”.

Meat processing and fruit and vegetable picking have been among the worst affected sectors. Nick Allen, chief executive of the British Meat Processors Association, said his members were dealing with long-term vacancy rates of 10 to 15 per cent despite increasing wages.

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The shortage led to more than 150,000 surplus pigs building up on UK farms last year, as processors were unable to slaughter and butcher them — at least 35,000 healthy animals have been culled. The committee called for the government to offer direct financial support to pig farmers, while accelerating a review of fairness in the pig meat supply chain.

Allen said the backlog of pigs was gradually being addressed thanks to staff working “very long hours” and carrying out only basic butchery. “You get by by actually doing less with the meat and probably wasting more,” he added.

But high Covid-19 rates have again strained abattoirs’ operations in recent weeks, causing at least two to temporarily halt operations, he said.

“If you can’t get the labour, it’s easier to get the work done overseas . . . people are looking to automation but to invest in automation you need confidence, and with rampant inflation that is lacking,” he added.

Short-term visa schemes for poultry workers, pork butchers and lorry drivers were announced so late in 2021 ahead of Christmas that it “limited the sector’s ability to take advantage of the visas”, the committee found.

Committee chair Neil Parish MP said the government “must change its attitude to the food and farming sector — trusting them and acting promptly when they raise concerns”.

Labour shortages are affecting “food security, animal welfare and the mental health of those working in the sector . . . [but] the government has not demonstrated a strong understanding of these issues, and even on occasion sought to pass the blame on to the sector on the basis of incorrect information about its own immigration system”, the report said.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: “We fully acknowledge that the food and farming industry is facing labour challenges and we continue to work with the sector to mitigate them.”

It said it planned to set out further plans on supporting automation and added: “Our new points-based immigration system also expanded the skilled worker route to many more occupations, including butchers, who can now be recruited from anywhere in the world.”