Migrant Workers: Livestock Industry
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of ending temporary concessionary visas for sheep shearers on the total labour supply of sheep shearers for the farming sector.
Answered by Mike Tapp
Immigration Rules concessionary arrangements are temporary and subject to regular Ministerial review. The sheep shearing concession had been operating for 14 years and closed after the 2025 shearing season as it reasonable to expect that over this period a long-term sustainable solution had been found to fill this workforce gap. To provide plenty of time to plan and transition to new arrangements DEFRA and the sector was informed last year that the concession would not be renewed again.
In addition, those in the UK on visas which allow general work rights, such as dependants or Youth Mobility Scheme visa holders, are free to take up work as a sheep shearer subject to the relevant visa restrictions.
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