Chronic food workers shortage to push prices even higher, warn MPs

Chronic worker shortages in the food and farming sector as a result of Brexit and the coronavirus pandemic could push food prices even higher and lead to more having to be imported, MPs have been warned.

MPs on the cross-party committee said the more than £100 billion 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 huge labour shortages in the food industry have led to unharvested crops being left to rot in fields, the cull of healthy pigs on farms because of a lack of workers at meat processing plants, and disruption to the food supply chain, as well as threatening the UK’s food security.

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.

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 – which is chaired by the Conservative MP Neil Parish, along with five other Conservatives, four Labour MPs and one Scottish National party colleague – has called for the government to offer direct financial support to pig farmers, while accelerating a review of fairness in the pig meat supply chain.

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”.

The MPs also made a series of recommendations to the government in the report, including more timely announcements of temporary visa schemes, the need for a change in how it engages with the industry, and the need for an expansion of the seasonal workers’ visa scheme by 10,000 permits.

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.”