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Agriculture: Foreigners

Volume 479: debated on Monday 21 July 2008

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the number of foreign workers participating in the seasonal farm workers scheme in each of the last three years; and what estimate he has made of the number in 2008. (216788)

I have been asked to reply.

The annual quota for the number of foreign workers who were permitted to enter the United Kingdom under the auspices of the seasonal agricultural workers scheme in 2005, 2006 and 2007 was 16,250. The quota was met in each year. The quota for 2008 is also 16,250.

The figures quoted are not provided under National Statistics protocols and have been derived from local management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change.