Managing Migration: Points-Based System - Home Affairs Committee Contents


Supplementary memorandum submitted by HOPS Labour Solutions

  HOPS Labour Solutions is a department of the National Federation of Young Farmers' Clubs (England and Wales), and is based at the YFC headquarters at Stoneleigh Park. The core work of HOPS is as one of the Home Office appointed Operators of the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme (SAWS). In addition to this HOPS operates its own programme called the Seasonal Workers Programme (SWP).

HOPS is one of the largest providers of temporary labour to horticulture/agriculture and recruits up to 11,000 workers per year to work on approximately 230 holdings across the whole of the UK. Currently 70% of placements are in the fruit sector and 16% in the salad/ vegetable sector with the remaining 14% placed on a wide spectrum of horticultural and agricultural holdings.

  SAWS participants are recruited from Romania, Bulgaria. SWP participants are recruited from the A8 accession states however principally from Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Latvia and Lithuania.

RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS

1.  Which aspects of the points-based system do you think best fit the needs of the agriculture and horticulture sectors, and why?

  The nature of the Agriculture and Horticulture sectors mean there is a large demand for temporary/seasonal workers. Currently the demand for seasonal labour within the Agricultural and Horticultural sectors which is not met by UK nationals and nationals with free access to work in the UK is met through the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme (SAWS). The SAWS is due to be phased out at the end of 2010 and the scheme is not currently part of the point based system.

The continuation of the SAWS or its replacement would best fit in Tier 5 of the points based system. This returns SAWS, or a replacement, to its origin of being a circular migration cultural exchange scheme which in turn helped to meet the unmet demand for seasonal labour. Inclusion in tier 5 would add value to the scheme by placing more focus on participants being offered an experience over and above just employment. The scheme would provide a vital source of labour for the sectors that is required to secure its future and this could be achieved without creating or adding to any of the pressures commonly associated with full time migration. To explain some examples the scheme participants would be accommodated in on site facilities arranged by the host employer which would result in minimal pressure on local housing. Participants would not be permitted to bring dependents resulting in no pressure on the education system.

Additional benefits to the UK would be to foster close relationships with third countries, be a forerunner with regard to knowledge transfer to less developed nations of technological knowhow, skills, and systems and assist British companies in marketing their products and services overseas.

  Therefore a key requirement of the sectors, seasonal labour, is not met by the points based system.

2.  Do you welcome the removal of the Working Holiday Maker scheme and introduction, in its place, of the Youth Mobility scheme under tier 5? Will this change still allow you to recruit temporary student labour?

  HOPS Labour Solutions specialises in the provision of large numbers of low skilled people to work in temporary positions in the Agriculture and Horticulture Sectors. As a result of this we have not used the Working Holiday Maker scheme to fill the vacancies we have available.

Historically our client employers have utilised The Working Holiday Maker scheme as a source for more senior supervisory/lower management personnel and higher skilled positions such as machinery operation in part due to the higher standard of English language skills and level of experience. Arrangements are more ad hoc where individuals drift in and out of employment while they travel and holiday and as a result do not provide the level of reliability required for the volume of low skilled temporary positions available in the sectors.

  Therefore the removal of the Working Holiday Maker scheme and the introduction of the Youth Mobility scheme will not meet the requirements of the sectors for low skilled temporary positions however it will assist to meet the demand for more highly skilled positions.

3.  Do you think it is realistic to expect young people entering the UK under the Youth Mobilty Scheme to have £1,600 in savings, as stipulated by the Government?

  Currently there are only four countries registered to participate in the scheme, Australia, Canada, Japan and New Zealand. In the case of these four countries it is realistic that young people are expected to have £1,600 in savings. In the future should countries with lower earning potential register to the scheme then young people who would benefit the sectors may be excluded purely because of their background which is not realistic.

It is unclear to the objective of the condition and what is to be achieved through having it in place.

February 2009





 
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