Agriculture: Seasonal Workers

Lord Whitty
asked Her Majesty's Government:

How many migrant seasonal workers are estimated to have been employed in agriculture at the height of the season in 2005 and 2006; what proportion of that total were working legally; and what were those workers' countries of origin. [HL7461]

Lord Bassam of Brighton
Non-EEA nationals coming to the UK to undertake seasonal agricultural work are admitted under the seasonal agricultural workers scheme (SAWS). The SAWS quota for 2005 and 2006 was 16,250.

The number of workers from the new accession states who have registered under the worker registration scheme (WRS) as employed in the agricultural sector in 2005-06 is set out below.

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|2005     |WRS Agricultural Workers|
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|Quarter 1|4,000                   |
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|Quarter 2|9,295                   |
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|Quarter 3|6,695                   |
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|Quarter 4|2,705                   |
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|2006     |     |
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|Quarter 1|3,750|
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|Quarter 2|6,885|
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The Home Office does not hold figures for the number of other EEA nationals or non-EEA nationals admitted to the UK on some other basis working legally in the sector in 2005-06.