The UK government is accused of 'failing to understand' the needs of the food sector due to the current labour shortages. A committee of MPs has accused the Government of not grasping the severity of the issues that employers in the food and farming sector are facing. It's becoming increasingly apparent that these employers are having a difficult time recruiting qualified applicants for available job openings.

The government has failed to demonstrate “a strong understanding of the labour shortages” facing the food and farming sector, according to the Commons Environment Food and Rural Affairs Committee.

Following this report being published the government didn't accept the committee's recommendation to lower the English language requirement for Skilled Worker Visa applicants in the food and farming sector such as butchers. 

It's also rejected the commitee's recommendation to undertake a "lessons learnt" exercise on the temporary short-term visa schemes established last autumn and has turned down the suggestion to make the Seasonal Workers Pilot a permanent scheme. 

‘The government’s overall response to our recommendations is wholly inadequate,’ said Sir Robert Goodwill MP.

This article first appeared on food manufacture.co.uk