SCOTLAND'S Rural Affairs Secretary has accused her UK counterpart of an “apparent lack of interest” in the food and drink sector’s labour shortages.
Mairi Gougeon has urged UK Government ministers to work collaboratively to solve the issue facing the sector, citing migration policy as a hindrance to recruitment.
In a letter to her Food and Rural Affairs Secretary Steve Barclay, the Scottish Government minister states she is “confounded” by the lack of “substantive” responses received to previous letters to UK ministers.
She wrote: “The only conclusion that I can draw reasonably from this, is an apparent lack of interest on the part of the UK Government about this very significant issue and which is of great importance to the sector.”
READ MORE: Lee Anderson has Tory whip suspended over Islamist comments
Gougeon said the post-Brexit loss of EU nationals has led to “significant and immediate gaps in labour” which cannot be quickly replaced.
She also criticised the UK Government’s proposals to extend the “not for EU” labelling requirements on meat and dairy products.
“These seem arbitrary and are likely to have a disproportionate impact on industry,” she said.
“This is also at a time when further red tape, from import controls, are pending with checks ramping up in April and beyond and consumers are already bearing the burden of added food costs.
“All of this points to UK policies that continue to be made without due consideration of economic impacts on, or meaningful consultation with the industries most affected by it.”
She added: “Rather than my having to resort yet again to another letter about all of these issues, it would be best for us to meet to discuss how we can work together effectively to try to make some headway to support the sector.”
She urged Barclay to “reverse the trend” of poor UK Government representation.
A UK Government spokesperson said: “Enabling an innovative, productive, and competitive food and farming industry which invests in its people and skills to drive growth is a key priority for the Government.
READ MORE: Sky News deletes tweet of Keir Starmer admitting to talks with Isaac Herzog
“We will be shortly setting our response to the independent review into tackling labour shortages, outlining how we will continue to support the sector to access the labour it needs, including our work on automation and promoting domestic labour procurement and training.
“However, we are not complacent about the challenges facing the industry and support is needed now – which is why we guaranteed last May that there would be 45,000 seasonal worker visas available for the horticulture sector and a further 2,000 for the poultry sector in 2024, which can help Scottish farmers in bringing home the harvest, as well as injecting £220 million into future future-focused technology and productivity schemes.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel