Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 01 September 2021
I begin by saying thank you on behalf of Labour members to Scotland’s food and drink sector. Thank you to our farmers and crofters who, in the face of the uncertainty of Brexit and the lack of direction that we have had on the future of agricultural support, continue to deliver world-class quality food that Scotland is rightly proud of. Thank you to our fishers, who, after being let down by the post-Brexit deal and completely omitted from the SNP-Green coalition agreement, continue to play their part in our nation’s food security. Thank you to our shop workers who, while we were able to work from home, continued to work on the front line, along with producers, processors, wholesalers and deliverers, put the food and drink on our shelves to keep the nation fed during the pandemic. Thank you to the more than 18,000 food and drink businesses in Scotland, which turn over £14 billion a year, for employing more than 115,000 people.
The food and drink sector makes an immense and growing contribution to Scotland’s economy, and Labour supports the aim in the Government’s paper “Ambition 2030” to keep that growth going and to double turnover to £30 billion by 2030. However, that sector is facing enormous challenges in keeping those shelves full, not least because of the double whammy of the pandemic and Brexit.
This week, the Food and Drink Federation warned that chronic staff shortages have left Scotland’s food industry at crisis point. In a letter to the UK and Scottish Governments, the federation’s industry partners appeal to those Governments to get their act together when it comes to access to labour and support for the sector. It makes stark reading. Its survey of businesses in the sector found that 93 per cent reported job vacancies, 90 per cent described those vacancies as hard to fill and 97 per cent said they will struggle to fill vacancies in the future. The letter is clear:
“We have now reached crisis point putting the growth, viability and security of many Scottish businesses in jeopardy, with knock on impacts for consumers. We need action now to save Christmas.”
That letter was backed up today by the National Farmers Union Scotland, when it wrote to the UK Government to highlight the impact of the labour shortage. There is no more obvious illustration of that crisis than the current lack of heavy goods vehicle drivers and the impact that that is having on, for example, getting milk to processors, an issue that is highlighted by the NFUS in its letter.
I recognise that, in the short term, we need to urgently break down the barriers that the UK Government has put in the way of access to overseas labour.