Skills council slams migrant worker restriction

Food and drink sector skills council Improve has hit out at the government’s decision not to relax rules restricting the number of Bulgarian and Romanian workers allowed to apply for jobs in the UK food processing industry.

Jack Matthews, Improve chief executive, argued before the government’s Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) in October​ that the talent pool from these countries could help fill the vacancies created by the exodus of workers from Poland, Lithuania and Slovakia. Eastern European nationals account for about one in seven employees in the processing industry.

But despite announcing an increase in the quota of Bulgarian and Romanian nationals allowed to work in agriculture, the MAC has now said it would not change the rules for food processing workers.

Matthews said: “It is a disappointment that the MAC has not seen fit to extend the number of Bulgarian and Romanian workers in food processing.”

However, the MAC did allow for a change in the rules governing which sectors of food and drink Romanian and Bulgarian workers can be employed in, and has invited Improve to submit more evidence. Current restrictions only allow them in meat, fish and mushroom processing.

“I do welcome their commitment to considering the extension of the current quota to cover other food manufacturing occupations - for example, fresh produce, dairy and chilled and frozen foods,” said Matthews.

“Additionally, I welcome the further request from the MAC for information that could alter its current definition of what constitutes a skilled occupation in the food and drink sector. This latter issue is of key importance because, even in the current economic climate, there are still some critical skilled occupations which are not being filled by the domestic workforce.”