Seasonal workers and the seasonal worker scheme

Freedom of Information Act request.

Ref: FOI 24-25 06

Date issued: 8 July 2024

Subject: Seasonal workers and the seasonal worker scheme

Question:

1.  Does the GLAA have statistics or records of the farmers or businesses that benefit from the labour of seasonal workers provided by Scheme Operators? If so, where could I find such information?

2.  Does the GLAA have knowledge or statistics about the farms and businesses to which the licenced operator supplies labour? If so, where could I find such information?

3.  Does the GLAA have any knowledge about a trade union that is involved with seasonal workers at any farm or business in the UK?

Response:

1.     Does the GLAA have statistics or records of the farmers or businesses that benefit from the labour of seasonal workers provided by Scheme Operators? If so, where could I find such information?

The GLAA does not currently hold any records of the farms used by the scheme operators. The GLAA will only have the details of the operators themselves if they have GLAA licences.

The list of companies allowed to operate on the seasonal worker route is published on gov.uk. They won’t have specific farms on there, but we would not provide that data under cost exemption as there are thousands of farms operating on the route.

All information pertaining to the Seasonal agricultural worker scheme is published on gov.uk and Research briefings (parliament.uk), this includes a detailed outline of the scheme, approved operators, and statistics current and historic.

2.     Does the GLAA have knowledge or statistics about the farms and businesses to which the licenced operator supplies labour? If so, where could I find such information?

The GLAA holds intelligence-based knowledge and data statistics about farms and businesses that hold GLAA licences. If you would like to know specific knowledge or statistics, please make a request for this information directly outline the specific request including date timeframes, if possible.

All information pertaining to the Seasonal agricultural worker scheme is published on gov.uk and Research briefings (parliament.uk), this includes a detailed outline of the scheme, approved operators, and statistics current and historic.

3.     Does the GLAA have any knowledge about a trade union that is involved with seasonal workers at any farm or business in the UK?

We do not currently collect data specifically on trade unions involved with seasonal workers at any farm or business in the UK. This information would most likely be held by the trade unions themselves and Trade Unions Congress (TUC), please make a request for this information from the trade unions/TUC directly for this.