Research and analysis

Seasonal workers survey results 2023

Updated 21 October 2024

Executive Summary

This document provides a summary of results from a survey of workers who were issued Seasonal Worker visas during 2023. Further information on the Seasonal Worker visa route is available at Seasonal Worker visa (Temporary Work): Overview webpage.

The purpose of the survey is to gain insights into their experience to understand what went well and where improvements may be needed. The survey was conducted between 4 February and 31 March 2024.

In line with our commitment to continual improvement, the survey questions were updated in 2023 in partnership with industry and NGO stakeholders. Whilst maintaining comparability with previous surveys as much as possible, the 2023 survey questions incorporated an increased focus on workers’ on-farm experience and finances. In addition, to increase response rates, the survey was conducted 4 months earlier than in previous years, meaning their experiences were fresher in workers’ memories.

The 2023 survey succeeded in securing a much greater response rate. Overall, there were 13,911 responses to the survey, a 42.5% return rate (in 2022 the response rate was 12.4%).

The vast majority of survey respondents were from 4 central Asian countries, with Kyrgyzstan having the greatest representation (33.4% of all respondents). 

Recruitment and pre arrival cost

Apart from visa and travel costs, two-thirds of respondents (66.6%) stated they did not pay any other up-front costs before arriving in the UK. A small proportion of respondents who incurred other pre-arrival costs stated that these were for migration (or labour) Ministry fees (7.6%), or medical fees (4.6%). Respondents most commonly stated that they funded their trip through savings (51.6%) or a loan from family and friends (29.2%).

Most respondents considered the information provided, covering a range of topics, during the recruitment process to be accurate, which is positive but leaves scope for improvement. The vast majority of respondents considered information relating to a range of issues to be accurate, including accommodation costs (84.8%), potential deductions to pay (78.9%), holiday pay or sick pay entitlements (79.9%), and information on working hours (73.3%).

Contracts and pay

The survey found that 94.3% of respondents were provided with a contract in a language they could understand (either their first language or a language they were fluent in).

Almost 9 out of 10 respondents (87.9%) stated they were paid for all their work, with 81.2% being provided with 32 to 50 hours of work per week, and 80.9% working in the UK for over 4 months.

Cost in the UK and on farm experiences

The overall picture provided by respondents was that they were happy with their working and living conditions whilst staying on the farms. The survey showed that 34.6% of respondents did not pay for anything after arriving in the UK, but where costs were incurred, they were for UK travel (31.7%) and to get to the farm on arrival (30.9%).

Analysis of the free text answers provided by respondents reveals that most reported positive experiences. As one respondent commented:

I’m happy with the attitude of the actual British people who work on the farm, the managers and bosses

2023 seasonal worker survey respondent

However, some respondents mentioned specific concerns, notably regarding poor accommodation:

The caravans are in a deplorable condition; there is a heating appliance, but we’re not allowed to turn it on, and it’s cold. We used our own portable heaters. We cooked on the stove

2023 seasonal worker survey respondent

Complaints, transfers, and access to healthcare

Over three-quarters of respondents (78.3%) knew how to raise a complaint, and the vast majority of survey respondents (86.5%) stated they did not need to raise a complaint during their time on the farms.

A small proportion of respondents (3.0%, accounting for 369 people) stated that they had raised a formal complaint. Of these, the most cited route to raise their complaint was through their farm manager (89) or to their colleagues (46). Only 5 respondents stated they had reported their complaint through an official government route. The main reason stated by respondents for raising a complaint was a grievance with their supervisor or manager (69).

There were 1,670 respondents (10.5%) who had a grievance but did not raise a formal complaint. The most common reason for not raising a formal complaint was due to a belief that no action would be taken (expressed by 27.6% of these respondents).

The survey showed that 23.5% of the respondents requested a transfer to another farm. Of those respondents who requested a transfer, 37.8% stated it was due to the lack of hours on their current farm, while 20.3% requested a move to be with friends.

Of those requesting a transfer, 64.9% were successful. Respondents stated most frequently that no reason was given for not being transferred (32.2%). Where a reason was given, the most frequently reported was either there were no jobs available on the farm the worker wanted to move to, or no other farm was available.

Whilst in the UK, 8.3% of respondents to the survey said they needed medical treatment. Of those respondents, 67.1% said they received it and 69.8% stated they were well supported in this respect.

Overall satisfaction

Overall, the vast majority of respondents (91.0%) reported a positive experience from their time in the UK. Almost all respondents (95.0%) expressed a desire to return to the UK through the Seasonal Worker visa route, with only 1.6% of respondents stating they would not.

Different experiences by nationality

The survey has picked up variations across survey respondents by nationality.

In terms of their overall experience, the nationalities most likely to report a positive or extremely positive experience working in the UK were Uzbek (96.3%), Kazakh (93%) and Kyrgyz respondents (94.7%).

On pre-arrival costs, Uzbek respondents were the most likely (34.0%) to report that they paid Labour or Migration Ministry fees prior to arrival in the UK.

Kazakh (84.9%), Kyrgyz (87.0%) and Tajik (84.9%) respondents were most likely to report paying up-front costs before arriving in the UK.

Respondents reporting the longest duration of stay (for 5 months or longer) were from the Central Asian countries (between 69.1% and 74.3%) compared with only 56.7% of those in the ‘Other Nationality’ category.

Those most likely to be provided with a contract in their first language were Kazakh respondents (67.8%) and Other Nationality respondents (74.1%).

Uzbek respondents were the most likely group to know how to raise a complaint (86.7%).

Comparison with 2022 worker welfare survey

The questions for the 2023 survey were updated and, whilst similar to the 2022 survey, there are differences meaning direct comparisons are not always possible but broad trends can be identified.

Many areas showed similar results, including the provision of a contract in their own language or one they could understand (94.4% in 2023 versus 94.5% in 2022), number of weekly hours or work (94.7% for over 32 hours in 2023 versus 93.9% for over 30 hours in 2022, on-farm conditions including accommodation (91.2% in 2023 versus 88.3% in 2022), supervisors (85.0% in both 2023 and 2022), safety (93.5% in 2023 versus 94.0% in 2022) and those stating they would work on a UK farm again (95.0% in 2023 versus 91.4% in 2022).

There were also areas which indicated improvements. One question that was phrased in the same way was whether they had a positive experience. Results showed an improvement from 85.9% of respondents in 2022 stating they had a positive or extremely positive experience, to 91.0% in 2023.

In addition, fewer respondents noted incurring pre-arrival costs in 2023 compared with 2022, including recruitment and medical fees, although it should be noted that the 2023 version of this question excluded visa fees and travel costs, whereas the 2022 version included these costs.

There were also reductions in the proportion of respondents in the 2023 survey paying certain costs once in the UK. This included travel costs in the UK (down from 52.4% in 2022 to 31.7% in 2023) and equipment fees (down from 37.0% in 2022 to 6.1% in 2023). However, in 2023, respondents were asked to exclude costs relating to food or taxes.

Between 2022 and 2023, there was also an increase in the proportion of respondents stating they had worked for over 5 months, from 60.7% in 2022 to 69.5% in 2023.

A similar proportion of respondents requested a transfer in both years (23.5% in 2023 and 22.8% in 2022), though successful transfers were reported by a greater proportion of respondents to the 2023 survey (64.9% in 2023 compared with 56.1% in 2022). However, the transfers and complaints questions were phrased differently in the 2022 and 2023 surveys.

Despite changes being made to the complaints and transfers questions in the 2023 survey, there was an improvement in the proportion of respondents stating that they knew how to raise a complaint, from 70.7% in 2022 to 78.3% in 2023. In both years only a small proportion of respondents stated they raised formal complaints (3.0% in 2023 and 4.3% in 2022). A similar proportion of respondents in both surveys stated that their complaint was followed up (58.9% in 2023 and 55.2% in 2022).

Section A: Introduction to the 2023 seasonal workers survey results

This report presents the results of the 2023 seasonal workers survey. The survey questionnaire was distributed on 14 February 2024 to migrant workers with visas issued in 2023.

The seasonal workers survey is a monitoring tool used by the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (Defra) to assess migrant welfare and the experience of seasonal workers on UK farms. The survey has been run each year since 2019.

In line with our commitment to continual improvement, the survey questions were updated in 2023 in partnership with industry and NGO stakeholders, building on revisions made for the 2022 survey. Whilst maintaining comparability with previous surveys as much as possible, the 2023 survey questions incorporated an increased focus on workers’ on-farm experience and finances. In addition, to increase response rates, the survey was conducted 4 months earlier than in previous years.

Insights from this survey will be used to track the impact of improvements made to the visa route’s operation and to support future policy development aimed at improving migrant welfare. Data from the 2019 Survey of Workers was published as part of a more comprehensive wider review. The 2019 review as well as seasonal workers surveys results for 2020, 2021 and 2022 can be found at Seasonal workers reviews and surveys.

In 2023 the total number of Seasonal Worker visas available for the horticulture sector was 45,000, with another 2,000 visas for the poultry sector. Holders of horticulture Seasonal Worker visas are entitled to work for up to 6 months from their time of arrival, whereas holders of poultry Seasonal Worker visas can work for up to 3 months in the poultry sector in the run up to Christmas.

The Home Office published Why do people come to the UK? To work. The statistics show that 32,724 Seasonal Worker visas were granted in 2023, of which 590 were for poultry.

There were 6 operators licensed to recruit seasonal workers for horticulture during 2023: Pro-Force, Concordia, Fruitful Jobs, HOPS, Agri-HR and Ethero. Pro-Force and RE Recruitment were also licensed to recruit for poultry. The operators source and sponsor seasonal workers on behalf of UK growers. A breakdown of the total number of visas issued to seasonal workers by their country of residence can be found in Table 1.

Table 1: Total number of visas issued to seasonal workers in calendar year 2023

This information was taken from GOV.UK’s Immigration system statistics data tables under Entry clearance visas granted outside the UK.

Country of residence	Visas issued in 2023	Percentage of total visas issued in 2023
Kyrgyzstan	7,958	24.3%
Tajikistan	5,665	17.3%
Kazakhstan	5,014	15.3%
Uzbekistan	4,091	12.5%
Ukraine	2,535	7.7%
Moldova	2,163	6.6%
Romania	1,040	3.2%
Bulgaria	888	2.7%
North Macedonia	881	2.7%
South Africa	473	1.4%
Turkey	246	0.8%
Pakistan	235	0.7%
All other	1,535	4.7%
Total	32,724	100%

1. Insights from the seasonal workers survey

The 2023 seasonal workers survey was hosted online by Qualtrics. The survey was distributed by 6 of the 7 scheme operators who recruited seasonal workers during 2023 and sent out the questionnaire on behalf of Defra.

The annual survey is important because there are a range of risks associated with migration routes for low skilled workers, including the treatment of workers and fair pay. Defra recognises the importance of monitoring and understanding the experiences of seasonal migrant workers so that measures can be taken to reduce these risks.

The annual worker survey collects both quantitative and qualitative data from migrant seasonal workers and provides valuable insights across 5 dimensions of their welfare.

1. Recruitment and pre-arrival costs.
2. Contracts, payments, duration, and hours worked.
3. Costs in the UK and on-farm experiences.
4. Complaints, transfers, and access to healthcare.
5. Overall satisfaction.

The 2023 report themes are similar to those from the 2022 report but differ from the themes included in the 2020 and 2021 reports due to the range of nationalities changing in 2022 due to the Ukraine war and following changes made to improve the seasonal worker survey design from 2022 onwards.

2. Methodology and analysis

A link to the online Qualtrics-based survey was disseminated between 14 February and 31 March 2024 by the operators on behalf of Defra to workers that held Seasonal Worker visas for 2023. The survey will, in most cases, have been completed after the worker had returned home.

The survey asked a range of questions ranging from working experience, accommodation, pay, complaints, and desire to return to the UK for future seasonal work. The survey comprised 28 questions (some with sub-questions), including 2 screening questions and 6 free text fields to gain further detail on specific questions. The questionnaire was translated into 12 languages to make it accessible to the majority of respondents.

The survey received 15,998 responses. Analysis was conducted in-house by Defra removing responses for which consent was not provided, responses from participants who did not work on farms in the UK in 2023, and duplicate responses. This left 13,911 completed responses in the final sample, meaning that responses from 42.5% of migrant workers who received seasonal worker visas in 2023 are analysed in this report.

The response rate for 2023 was much higher than the 12.4% in 2022 and 12.0% rate in 2021. This very positive improvement on the return rates reflects improvements in the structure, design and timing of the survey. The improved return rate also means that the 2023 survey report reflects the experiences of more workers than in previous reports.

The results of the survey are presented as response frequencies, and as proportions of the survey average, before being broken down by nationality. The percentage totals in the report will not add up to exactly 100% for all questions due to the rounding and certain questions allowing multiple answers to be selected. The nationality breakdown is included to identify whether migrants from different countries have reported different experiences of the UK seasonal workers visa route.

For the nationality breakdown, analysis has been limited to responses from the following countries that provided the vast majority of the migrant workforce in 2023: Kazakhstan; Kyrgyzstan; Tajikistan; and Uzbekistan.

Responses from all ‘Other Nationality’ countries are presented as a group. Selections were made based on nationality making up more than 5% of the total survey respondents (see Table 2), which allows meaningful analysis to be undertaken, and conclusions to be drawn, from the results.

Analysis was undertaken on free text answers to identify common themes, translated into English where necessary. If an answer in the free text boxes repeated an option present in the first section of these questions, the information was added to the results of the original question.

2.1 Limitations of survey

While seasonal migrant workers can be hard to reach as a research population, Defra has made efforts to document the experiences of workers on the Seasonal Worker visa route. This survey provides valuable insight into seasonal workers’ experiences of working in the UK and contributes to the body of literature on the subject of migrant welfare, including Defra’s previous survey reports, the Home Office review of the 2019 Pilot scheme and various reports published by Focus on Labour Exploitation (FLEX), for example Bearing Fruit: making recruitment fairer for migrant workers (April 2024) and UK agriculture and care visas: worker exploitation and obstacles to redress (March 2024).

The online survey was disseminated to migrant workers via the scheme’s operators to reach the maximum number of participants. Defra took measures to ensure that the anonymity of respondents was protected and did not collect identifiable information from survey respondents. Data was collected via Qualtrics, which allowed survey respondents to submit anonymous feedback directly to Defra.

It is recognised that there are limitations to collecting the data in this way. It meant Defra could not follow up with survey respondents, for example, to further explore questions raised. Online survey methods can also be susceptible to low response rates (as can also be the case with other survey methods).

Another factor to consider is that operators disseminated the 2023 survey to workers on behalf of Defra. Although workers were provided with assurances around confidentiality, they depend on the scheme’s operators to access work and may therefore be reluctant to provide negative feedback (or respond to the survey at all) due to a lack of confidence about who can view their responses. It should be noted, though, that the operators do not have access to the raw survey data.

There is also a risk of self-selection bias as participants were free to choose whether to respond to the survey or not. Hence, there is a possibility of overrepresentation of subgroups that had a particularly positive or negative experience of working in the UK.

A low response rate exacerbates the risk of self-selection bias. However, it is worth noting that the response rate in 2023 (42.5%) was much higher than the 12.4% in 2022 and 12.0% rate in 2021. Defra remains committed to looking at ways of increasing response rates even more for future waves.

Language barriers can be another limitation, bringing a risk that information is lost in the translation of survey questions into other languages or responses into English. Across the survey, 94.8% of respondents answered a translated version of the survey. The Russian survey translation was the most popular translation used by respondents, with 63.6% of respondents using this. Only 5.2% of respondents answered the English language translation of the survey. A professional translator was used to convert all non-English responses from open text boxes.

Finally, the number of questions was increased in the 2023 questionnaire and the complexity of certain questions was also increased. Further detail was required for the complaints and transfers questions in 2023, which may have led to respondents not being comfortable with disclosing such detail.

The survey is designed to capture the experience of seasonal workers on the visa route. Experiences of other seasonal workers on farm are not included in this survey (for example, EU workers with Settled or Pre-Settled Status or Ukrainians with extended visas).

2.2 Comparisons with previous surveys

This report will make some comparisons with the findings from the 2022 Survey of Workers results as there were similarities between the themes explored in 2022 and 2023, while some of the 2023 questions were identical or similar to 2022. When comparison between 2022 and 2023 responses is undertaken in this report, it is noted where the questions differed between the 2 iterations of the survey. Comparison with the results from earlier surveys would be less meaningful due to changes to the seasonal workers visa route since then, and a re-design of the 2022 survey.

During 2022 the Seasonal Worker visa route gained an expanded visa allocation, but more recruitment switched away from being predominantly Ukraine and Russia when war broke out in the Ukraine and switched rapidly to central and eastern Asian countries. In 2023 central Asia was again the dominant source (see section 3.1), providing a degree of continuity and stability that looks likely to be continued into 2024.

3. Respondent characteristics

The survey collected basic demographic information from respondents, including nationality, age, and gender.

3.1 Nationality of survey respondents

Table 2 demonstrates that the largest proportion of survey respondents (85.8%) were from the 4 central Asian countries (Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan). In total they provided 11,935 out of 13,902 responses after data cleansing.

The proportions shown in Table 2 are slightly different to the 2022 survey results where respondents were asked “what is your home country?”. In 2022, 15.8% of respondents were from Nepal and Indonesia, whereas in 2023 there were no respondents from Indonesia and only 0.5% of respondents were from Nepal. This also differs from the 2021 seasonal workers survey where respondents from Russia made up 50.2% of the survey cohort. Respondents from Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan accounted for 30.4% of responses in 2021 and 73.8% in 2022.

Table 2: Nationality of 2023 survey respondents

Q3: What is your nationality?	2023 Count	2023 Proportion (%)
Kyrgyz	4646	33.4%
Tajik	3392	24.4%
Uzbek	2647	19.0%
Kazakh	1250	9.0%
Moldovan	496	3.6%
Ukrainian	462	3.3%
Macedonian	234	1.7%
South African	136	1.0%
Romanian	134	1.0%
Bulgarian	110	0.8%
Kenyan	95	0.7%
Nepali	76	0.5%
North Macedonian	48	0.3%
Indian	39	0.3%
Azerbaijani	34	0.2%
Serbian	27	0.2%
Turkish	14	0.1%
Turkmen	13	0.1%
Polish	8	0.1%
Kosovar	7	0.1%
Russian	7	0.1%
Barbadian	6	<0.1%
Armenian	3	<0.1%
Lithuanian	3	<0.1%
Montenegrin	3	<0.1%
Namibian	3	<0.1%
Bolivian	2	<0.1%
Bosnian	2	<0.1%
Georgian	2	<0.1%
Mongolian	1	<0.1%
New Zealand	1	<0.1%
Thai	1	<0.1%
Total	13902	100.0%

3.2 Age of survey respondents 

Table 3 shows that most respondents to the 2023 seasonal workers survey were aged between 25 and 38 years (64.8%).

Table 3: Age group of 2023 survey respondents

Age group	2023 Count	2023 Proportion (%)
18 to 24	2167	16.0%
25 to 31	4919	36.4%
32 to 38	3830	28.4%
39+	2995	22.2%
Total	13,507	100.0%

Figure 1: Distribution of respondent age in the 2023 seasonal workers survey

Figure 1: Distribution of respondent age in the 2023 seasonal workers survey

Figure 1 shows that the most common response to the “what is your age” question was 29. Each age category from 23 to 35 contained over 500 responses (accounting for 62.9% of respondents). From age 29 upward, the number of responses decreases steadily with the oldest worker being 62. The average (mean) age of survey respondents was 32, similar to 31 in 2022.

Table 4 compares the proportion of respondents by age brackets in the 2021, 2022 and 2023 editions of the survey. It shows that a larger proportion of respondents were aged 32 and over in the 2023 survey (50.6%) than in the 2022 (43.7%) and 2021 (33.7%) surveys.

Table 4: Age group of survey respondents in 2021, 2022 and 2023

Age group	2021 proportion	2022 proportion	2023 Proportion
18 to 24	23.1%	16.6%	16.0%
25 to 31	43.3%	39.7%	36.4%
32 to 38	21.6%	27.1%	28.4%
39+	12.1%	16.6%	22.2%
Total	746	4,210	13,507

3.3 Gender of survey respondents

The vast majority of respondents to the 2023 seasonal workers survey who answered the “what is your gender” question were male (80.9%), while a much smaller proportion were female (18.9%). Only 21 respondents to this question selected “Other” or “prefer not to say” when answering this question.

Table 5: Gender of 2023 survey respondents

Gender	2023 count:	2023 Proportion:
Male	10,968	80.9%
Female	2,565	18.9%
Other	2	<0.1%
Prefer not to say	19	0.1%
Total	13,554	100.0%

Table 6 compares the proportion of respondents by gender in the 2022 and 2023 editions of the survey. It shows a slightly lower proportion of male respondents in 2023 than in 2022, which is counteracted by a slightly higher proportion of female respondents in 2023 than 2022.

Table 6: Gender of survey respondents in 2022 and 2023

Gender	2022 proportion:	2023 Proportion:
Male	84.9%	80.9%
Female	14.9%	18.9%
Other	<0.1%	<0.1%
Prefer not to say	0.1%	0.1%
Total	4225	13554

3.4 Visa Sponsor for survey respondents

The survey showed that most respondents were from the 4 operators who only sponsored workers for horticulture growers: Agri-HR (15.1%), Concordia (21.0%), Fruitful Jobs (8.7%), HOPS (25%), plus Pro-Force (29.9%) who sponsored workers for both horticulture and poultry. Re-Recruitment only sponsored workers for the poultry sector, which had a much smaller visa allocation, and had 39 respondents (0.3%).

Almost all respondents (98.7%) were working in horticulture with the remaining 1.3% working in the poultry sector.

Section B: Main findings

Please note that, as set out in Section 2.2, some of the results from this section are directly comparable to the 2022 iteration of the Seasonal Workers Survey but not to reports prior to 2022.

In addition to considering overall frequencies and proportions, each theme in this section will consider variations in responses by nationality. The nationality groups analysed in this section are Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan, representing 85.8% of survey respondents.

The remaining 1,967 respondents (14.2% of all responses) are grouped into an “Other Nationality” category, of which the majority came from Eastern Europe, Balkan nations, and Ukraine.

Variations in the responses of respondents of different ages and different genders are not commented upon as the analysis revealed limited variation in responses across different age groups and genders.

4. Recruitment and pre-arrival costs

The risk of workers incurring large pre-arrival costs has increased in recent years, particularly as a greater proportion of workers are now sourced from beyond Eastern Europe or Ukraine. For example, the Indonesian respondents to the 2022 Seasonal Workers Survey found that they were most likely to report pre-arrival costs of at least £3,000 (61.6% compared with only 6.4% for all respondents).

Some of these costs may be incurred for things that are not a requirement for securing a role as a seasonal worker in the UK or travel to the UK. Workers arriving with considerable debt may be at greater risk of debt bondage and subsequent welfare issues.

To further investigate the costs workers are incurring, survey respondents were asked how much they paid (on things related to their seasonal work) before arriving in the UK, and what they paid for. In 2023 respondents to the survey workers were also asked how these costs were funded.

It is also important that workers receive accurate information that covers appropriate aspects of their work in the UK before they apply for a visa and travel to the UK. To check this the survey asked how accurate the information provided during recruitment was for accommodation, working hours, contract length, pay rates, and potential deductions to pay. New to the 2023 survey, respondents were also asked about the accuracy of information for accommodation cost and holiday pay, sick pay and entitlements.

4.1 Costs incurred before arriving in the UK

Respondents were asked what costs they incurred before travelling to the UK apart from visa and travel fees.

Type of costs incurred

The survey showed slightly more than three-quarters of respondents (77.6%) stated they did not incur any costs before arriving in the UK. Where costs were incurred, the items that respondents most frequently stated were Labour or Migration Ministry fees (7.6%), and medical fees (4.6%).

Respondents to the 2022 survey were asked the same question, with the exception of excluding visa and travel costs. Respondents to the 2022 survey reported paying additional fees, such as 13.0% stated they had paid medical fees, 9.1% recruitment fees, and 6.4% training fees – all higher proportions than in 2023.

Table 7: Type of costs incurred before arrival in the UK (excluding visa and travel)

Respondents were asked to tick all that apply, therefore percentages may not equal 100%.

Pre-arrival cost	Respondents	Percentage
Nothing	10685	77.6%
Recruitment agent or job-finding fee	257	1.9%
Training fee	218	1.6%
Medical fee	641	4.6%
Interview fee	117	0.8%
Labour or Migration Ministry fee	1052	7.6%
Uniform fee	314	2.3%
Other	21	0.2%

Analysis of free text answers to the 2023 survey, to identify the other costs incurred by respondents prior to arrival in the UK, showed a very small number of respondents who added a comment stated they paid for accommodation (8), a passport (3) and insurance (3).

Response variations by nationality

Of the respondents to the “apart from visa fees and travel costs, what did you have to pay for before you arrived in the UK?” question, Uzbek nationals (34.0%) were most likely to report incurring fees to their local Labour or Migration Ministries (see Annex Table A2).

How much it cost

Two-thirds of respondents stated that they had no up-front costs before arriving in the UK by choosing the £0 option from the list presented. This is a large proportion of respondents, considering that almost all workers are likely to have to pay for visa and travel costs. It is possible that because the previous question in the survey (discussed above) specifically excluded travel and visa costs that respondents believed that this should be excluded in this question. Therefore, this has also not been compared with the results from 2022. The wording of this survey question will be examined prior to the 2024 survey being undertaken.

Figure 2: Costs incurred by workers before arrival in the UK (number of respondents is 12,780)

Total cost	Total number of respondents
£0	8,516
£1 to £499	1,621
£500 to £999	1,998
£1,000 to £2,999	592
£3,000 to £4,999	29
£5,000 to £9999	0
£10,000+	24

Source: Defra seasonal workers survey 2023

Response variations by nationality

Kyrgyz respondents were the most likely to report that they did not incur up-front costs before arriving in the UK (87.0%) followed by Kazakh and Tajik respondents (both at 84.9%, Table A1).

Exceptional costs

While the vast majority of respondents incurred costs of less than £1,000 there were 24 respondents who stated their costs amounted to over £10,000. Having assessed these responses more closely, 16 of these 24 also stated “nothing” when asked about fees, apart from visa and travel. It therefore seems unlikely that they would have paid over £10,000 on travel fees. However, paying for additional fees to work on a farm in the UK is an issue we take very seriously, and the UK Government will continue to assess what more can be done to reduce these risks for seasonal workers.

Disparity on paying no fees and paying for “nothing”

There is a possible inconsistency in the results of 2 questions.

Questions and possible answers relating to upfront costs

Q12a: Apart from visa fees and travel costs, what did you have to pay for before you arrived in the UK? Tick all that apply

• Nothing
• Recruitment agent or job-finding fee
• Training fees
• Medical fees
• Interview fees
• Labour and Migration Ministry fees
• Uniform cost
• Other, please specify

Q13: In total, how much money did you pay upfront or as a loan on things related to the scheme before arriving in the UK?

• £0
• £1 to £499
• £500 to £999
• £1000 to £2999
• £3000 to £4999
• £5000 to £9999
• £10,000+

There is the option, when asked “in total, how much money did you pay upfront or as a loan on things related to the scheme before arriving in the UK?” to state £0, and the option to state “nothing” when asked “apart from visa fees and travel costs, what did you have to pay for before you arrived in the UK?”. You might expect the proportion of respondents who picked “nothing” for Q12a and “£0” for Q13 to be the same. However as noted above, the findings of the survey are that 66.6% of respondents picked the £0 option for Q13, and 77.6% picked the “nothing” option for Q12a. The fact that Q13 did not specifically ask respondents to omit visa and travel costs from consideration account for this disparity.

Funding pre-arrival costs

The survey asked respondents how they funded their pre-arrival costs. This is a new question for the 2023 survey to check whether workers owe money to cover these costs which they will need to repay from their salary in the UK.

Around half of the respondents (51.6%) paid for their pre-arrival costs from savings. A loan from their family or friends was the next most stated source of funds (29.2%). A further 5.7% of respondents used a formal loan and 1.7% used an informal loan.

Table 8: Funding the costs

Funded by	Respondents	Percentage
Savings	7179	57.5%
Loan (family or friends)	4065	32.6%
Formal Loan, for example banks	788	6.3%
Informal Loan, for example money lenders	240	1.9%
Recruitment company	132	1.1%
Other	81	0.6%
Total	12,479	100.0%

Analysis of responses to the “Other” category identified the other ways in which respondents managed their pre-arrival costs. This showed that most did it by selling assets (23 out of 81 respondents). The remaining 58 respondents who filled in this free-text box said they did not need another source of funding.

Response variations by nationality

Across the nationality groups, Kazakh respondents were the most likely to cover their pre-arrival costs using a formal loan while Uzbek respondents were most likely to use savings (see annex Table A3).

Accuracy of information provided during the recruitment process

The survey showed that most respondents considered the information provided during recruitment to be accurate (Table 8). The information that the greatest proportion of respondents indicated was accurate was on the cost of accommodation (84.8%) whereas information on working hours was ticked as accurate by the smallest proportion of respondents (73.3%). It is not possible to compare these results with those from the 2022 survey as the question has changed with the inclusion of “accurate / somewhat accurate / not accurate” as potential responses rather than “accurate / not accurate” in 2022.

Table 9: Accuracy of information provided during recruitment

Information provided	Accurate	Somewhat accurate	Not accurate	Unsure	Total
Accommodation condition	80.6%	2.4%	16.4%	0.5%	100%
Accommodation cost	84.8%	1.7%	13.0%	0.5%	100%
Working hours	73.3%	5.7%	20.3%	0.7%	100%
Contract length	83.3%	4.0%	12.0%	0.6%	100%
Potential deductions from pay	78.9%	3.7%	15.7%	1.8%	100%
Pay rates (including piece rate and how this would be calculated)	81.7%	3.3%	13.5%	1.6%	100%
Holiday pay, sick pay or entitlements	79.9%	4.5%	12.9%	2.7%	100%

Total number of respondents is 12,980.

5. Contracts, pay and hours worked, and duration of work

To check if migrant workers were paid fairly and received at least the minimum number of hours of work, the 2023 survey asked if respondents were paid for all the work they did and for how long they worked in the UK. New to the 2023 survey, respondents were also asked if they received at least an average of 32 hours over their pay period (following the April 2023 pay increase in line with the National Living Wage), and how long after arriving in the UK they started work.

It is important that the pay and working conditions are fully understood by migrant workers whose first language is usually not English. The 2023 survey asked if contracts were available to them in their first language and, if not, in a language they were fluent in.

Contracts

The survey shows that almost two-thirds of respondents (62.6%) were provided with a contract in their first language. Of those respondents that did not receive a contract in their first language, 85.0% were provided with a contract in a language they were fluent in. This left 5.6% of respondents (727 out of 12951) who did not have a contract in either their first language or a language they were fluent in. This means 94.4% were provided with a contract they understood, which is very similar to the response in the 2022 survey of 94.5%.

Table 10: Contract provided in first language

Contract provided in first language	Respondents	Percentage
Yes	8107	62.6%
No	4844	37.4%
Total	12951	100.0%

There were also 5 respondents who did not answer whether their contract was provided in a language they were fluent in if they did not receive the contract in their first language.

Table 11: Contract provided in a language fluent in

Contract provided in language fluent in	Respondents	Percentage
Yes	4112	85.0%
No	727	15.0%
Total	4839	100.0%

Response variations by nationality showed Kazakh at 67.8%, and 60.4% for Kyrgyz workers. However, when not provided with a contract in their first language, Kazakh had 79.8% that were less likely to receive contract in a language they were fluent in, while Kyrgyz had 86.8%. (see annex Tables A4 and A5).

Pay and hours worked

The survey asked respondents to provide the average number of hours they worked in a week. Almost all of the respondents (93.9%) stated they worked for 32 or more hours per week, with 81.2% of respondents working 32 to 40 hours (45.1%) or 41 to 50 hours (36.1%) in a week. A small proportion (12.8%) worked over 50 hours a week (Figure 3).

In addition, when specifically asked, 86.7% stated they were paid for at least an average of 32 hours per week following the rule change on 1 April 2023 which made this mandatory. The reason for this disparity in answers (86.7% versus 93.9% above) is not clear.

Figure 3: Average number of hours worked in a week (number of respondents is 12,612)

Hours worked	Total number of respondents
Under 25	128
25 to 31	637
32 to 40	5686
41 to 50	4551
51 to 60	1286
Over 60	324

Source: Defra seasonal workers survey 2023

Most respondents (87.9%) stated they were paid for all the work they did, including setting up and cleaning. However, a few (12.1%) were not.

Some of the comments made by respondents in free text answers on farm conditions (translated into English where necessary) covered both positive comments regarding pay and working conditions, but also some instances of dissatisfaction:

I like working in the UK, and I want to work in the UK again in 2024. They value your labour, and the job and the pay are good”.

2023 seasonal worker survey respondent

I’m very happy with the job, and with the wages they pay us; here in the UK people are very kind. I’d like to come back and continue working in the UK”.

2023 seasonal worker survey respondent

I worked in Scotland. They pay us all our money there. We rang the agency several times, but they were no help. The supervisors treated us worse than dogs. They didn’t pay for additional work, they cut the hours per day to 7 to 8 hours”.

2023 seasonal worker survey respondent

There is a slight improvement in respondents stating they were paid for all their work, at 89.7% compared with 85.9% in the 2022 seasonal worker survey. The number of hours worked per week is not directly comparable with the 2022 survey as the brackets for hours worked per week are different. However, results are similar with 94.7% of respondents in the 2022 survey stating they received pay for over 30 hours of work a week (compared with 93.9% respondents in 2023 survey receiving pay for over 32 hours of work a week).

5.3 Duration of work

Slightly more than two-thirds of respondents (69.5%) stated they worked in the UK for over 5 months (Figure 4). This is a slight improvement on the situation in the 2022 survey, where 60.7% stated they worked for longer than 5 months. Additionally, the proportion of respondents stating they worked for less than 4 months fell from 19.1% in 2022 to 11.5% in 2023.

Figure 4: Length of work in the UK (number of respondents is 12,580)

Total length	Total number of respondents
Less than 2 months	223
2 months or more, but less than 3 months	390
3 months or more, but less than 4 months	829
4 months or more, but less than 5 months	2389
5 months or longer	8749

Source: Defra seasonal workers survey 2023

The survey showed, however, that 29.1% of respondents stated they worked for less than their contract specified (Table 11).

Table 12: Work for less than contract specified

Work for less than contract specified	Respondents	Percentage
Yes	3656	29.1%
No	8916	70.9%
Unsure	0	0.0%
Total	12572	100.0%

Some of the comments made by respondents in free text answers on duration of work (from the question on which farm conditions the respondents were happy or unhappy with) included dissatisfaction at not working for the full visa length:

The only thing I’m not happy with is that I didn’t work the full period. And I didn’t earn very much. And they sent us 2 weeks after the visa period had begun, and the work ended a month before the end of the visa period.

2023 seasonal worker survey respondent

Response variations by nationality

Respondents in the “Other” nationality category were less likely to work in the UK for 5 months or longer (56.7%, see annex Table A6).

5.4 Length of time in UK before work started

In terms of how long they were in the UK before work started, most respondents (82.1%) were here for 3 days or less before starting work, with 1569 (12.5%) here for between 4 and 7 days. However, 87 respondents (0.7%) stated they were here for 3 weeks or more before beginning work. As a new question for 2023 we cannot compare these results with previous years.

Figure 5: Time in UK before work started

Total length	Total number of respondents
0 to 3 days	10308
4 to 7 days	1569
Over 1 week but less than 2 weeks	474
2 weeks or more but less than 3 weeks	110
3 weeks or more but less than 4 weeks	30
Over 4 weeks	57

Source: Defra seasonal workers survey 2023

6. Costs in the UK and on-farm experiences

To check that migrant workers are not paying any undue costs in the UK that unfairly reduce their take-home earnings, the 2023 survey asked respondents what they paid for after arriving in the UK. Along with the items included in the 2022 survey, such as travel within the UK, accommodation costs, training fees, medical fees, and living essentials, the 2023 survey also asked about personal protective equipment (PPE), utilities, laundry costs and travel costs to get to the farm when arriving in the UK.

The 2023 survey asked respondents to describe their experience of working in the UK, regarding their accommodation, the information and protective equipment provided, their supervisors or farm managers, operator support, ability to leave the farm for leisure and, new for the 2023 survey, their ability to raise a complaint and access to healthcare.

6.1 Costs incurred after arriving in the UK

The survey showed that just over a third of respondents (34.6%) had nothing to pay for after arriving in the UK (compared with 20.8% in the 2022 survey).

The most frequent post-arrival costs incurred were travel within the UK (31.7% of respondents) and to get to the farm on arrival (30.9% of respondents) plus accommodation costs (28.9% of respondents). With the next most frequent responses selected by workers being living essentials (22.5% of respondents), utilities (19.9% of respondents) and laundry (18.8% of respondents).

By comparison, in the 2022 survey the main areas of cost incurred were travel in the UK 52.4% (compared with 31.7% in 2023), and equipment fees 34% (compared with 6.1% in 2023). Unlike in 2022, food and taxes were excluded from respondent costs in 2023, therefore the proportion of respondents stating that they paid these costs cannot be compared across the 2 surveys.

Table 13: Costs after arrival in the UK (excluding food and taxes).

Respondents were asked to tick all that apply, therefore percentages may not equal 100%.

Post-arrival cost	Respondents	Percentage
Nothing	4358	34.6%
Accommodation cost	3635	28.9%
Travel costs within UK	3995	31.7%
Travel costs to get to farm when arriving in UK or to a new farm	3895	30.9%
PPE (which employer says must be worn for safety)	768	6.1%
Training fee	42	0.3%
Medical fee	263	2.1%
Living essentials (for example bedding, cooking utensils)	2838	22.5%
Utilities (for example electric, gas, water)	2507	19.9%
Laundry	2371	18.8%
Other	18	0.1%

Analysis on free text answers, to identify the other costs paid for by respondents after arriving in the UK, show 10 respondents mentioning internet costs. The remaining 8 responses related to pension and clothes (not PPE).

On-farm Experience

The response to questions regarding on-farm experience was broadly positive, with at least 80.0% of respondents stating they were happy with each of the on-farm conditions listed.

The conditions respondents most frequently stated they were unhappy with was their supervisors and managers (8.2%), followed by the ability to raise a complaint (7.4%) and their access to healthcare (6.9%).

Satisfaction with conditions on the farm were broadly similar to those reported in the 2022 survey. The proportion of those who were happy with each condition either stayed the same (farm supervisors and managers at 85.0% in both years), showed a very slight decrease in 2023 (proportion who were happy with safety reduced by 0.5%) or showed slight increase in 2023, for example provision of personal protection equipment (1.8%) and the ability to leave the farm for leisure (7.0%). Note also that the phrasing of this question changed from “Were you happy with….” and yes or no options, to “How did you feel about…” with happy or unhappy answer options.

Table 14: Satisfaction across a range of farm conditions

Respondents were asked to tick all that apply, therefore percentages may not equal 100%.

Farm condition	Happy	Unhappy	Unsure	Prefer not to say
Accommodation	91.2%	4.4%	2.6%	1.7%
Hours available	90.0%	4.7%	3.6%	1.6%
Pay	93.5%	2.9%	2.2%	1.4%
Information provided	91.6%	4.0%	2.9%	1.4%
Travel to/from farm at start/end contract	87.6%	5.8%	4.0%	2.6%
PPE provided	87.3%	6.5%	4.1%	2.0%
Ability to raise complaints/complaints procedure	81.8%	7.4%	6.0%	4.8%
Farm supervisors and managers	85.0%	8.2%	4.1%	2.8%
Operator support	88.9%	5.1%	3.9%	2.1%
Ability to leave farm for leisure	91.2%	3.3%	3.0%	2.5%
Access to healthcare	81.1%	6.9%	8.5%	3.5%
Safety	93.5%	2.2%	3.3%	1.1%

Total number of respondents for Table 13 is 12,454

Free text answers identified other aspects of worker placement on farm that respondents were happy or unhappy about (see Table 14) and provide some insight into the issues that mattered to the respondents. When presented with this opportunity nearly two-thirds of the free text respondents to the question (62.7%) stated either that they were happy with their experience on farm and / or wanted to work in the UK again.

However, Table 14 also shows that relationships with others working on the farms (issues of discrimination and bullying for example) working conditions and costs were also a concern for some.

Table 15: Themes discussed in open text response on aspects of farm placement

Themes discussed in open text response on aspects of farm placement	Respondents	Percentage
Wants to work in UK again	462	4.9%
Enjoyed experience	5465	57.8%
Discrimination/Racism	79	0.8%
Bullying/Harassment	40	0.4%
Treatment by Co-Workers	108	1.1%
Additional costs (for example utilities, travel, PPE, medical)	72	0.8%
Working conditions	63	0.7%
Transfers	53	0.6%
Didn’t earn enough	10	0.1%
Language barrier/Cultural differences	34	0.4%

Total number of free text comments is 9,455

Some of the comments made by respondents in free text answers (translated into English where necessary) on accommodation include:

I really liked the working and living conditions, and the attitude towards the workers. I want to come back and work again”.

2023 seasonal worker survey respondent

The accommodation: It’s cold in the caravans, the fireplace doesn’t work and there’s only one heater for the entire caravan, that is, 3 rooms”.

2023 seasonal worker survey respondent

The inspection of the caravan doesn’t sit well; you come back tired from work and a message has been left that the caravan hasn’t been tidied up, but in fact the caravans were old”.

2023 seasonal worker survey respondent

Complaints, transfers, and access to health care

If a seasonal worker is unhappy with their employment, or life on farm, it is very important that they can access a complaints process they trust. The 2023 survey asked respondents if they knew how to raise a complaint, and if they had raised a formal complaint who they raised it with, what the grievance was about and if it was followed up. To find out more about the process, the 2023 survey also asked respondents why they did not raise a formal complaint when they had a grievance.

In order for a migrant worker to make their stay in the UK financially worthwhile, it is important they have the opportunity to transfer between farms, if possible, when work runs out. The ability to transfer to another farm is also important if a worker is suffering poor treatment, or if they are not happy with the conditions on a particular farm. To check that transfers were available for these situations, the survey asked respondents if they had requested a transfer and why, if their transfer request was accepted and they moved, or why it was refused.

Another important area that may affect the welfare and overall experience of migrant workers during their time spent working in the UK is how easy it was to access healthcare (if required), and whether appropriate treatment was received for any sickness or injury. To check this, the 2023 survey asked respondents if they needed any medical treatment and, if so, whether they received it and were well supported and, if not, why that was.

Complaints

In the 2023 survey there were a number of questions sought to a gain greater understanding of workers’ views and experiences on seeking redress if they had any grievances.

The first question in this section asked, “did you know how to raise a complaint if you were unhappy with your employment and life on the farm?”. Just over three-quarters of respondents (78.3%) stated that they did. This is an increase from the response to a similar question in the 2022 survey (70.7%) which focused specifically on whether respondents were unhappy with their employment.

The next question asked whether the respondent had experienced a grievance, with possible answers of ‘yes, and I raised a formal complaint’, ‘yes, I had a grievance but did not raise a formal complaint’ or ‘no’ (Table 15). This is a change from the 2022 survey which asked, “did you know how to raise a complaint if you were unhappy with your employment?”, with the possible answer of ‘yes’ or ‘no’.

Though not directly comparable, both questions highlighted that only a small proportion of respondents raised formal complaints (3.0% in 2023 and 4.3% in 2022). The survey in 2023 additionally highlights that 10.5% of respondents experienced a grievance but did not raise a formal complaint.

Table 16: Whether the worker experienced a grievance

Whether the worker experienced a grievance	Respondents	Percentage
Yes, and raised a formal complaint	369	3.0%
Yes, had a grievance but did not raise a formal complaint	1,301	10.5%
No	10,707	86.5%
Total	12,377	100.0%

Three additional questions were asked of the 369 respondents who stated they raised a formal complaint: who they complained to, what it was about and whether their complaint was followed up.

These questions showed that complaints were raised with farm managers most commonly (89 of the 254 who answered), followed by colleagues and then operators (Table 16). Only 5 respondents stated they reported it through an official government route. For future surveys, a follow-up question should be included to specify who the complaint was made to when ticking “other” as 35.0% of respondents selected this response but did not have an open-text box to state who they complained to.

Table 17: Who complaints were raised with

Complaint raised with	Respondents	Percentage
Colleagues	46	18.1%
Supervisor	0	0.0%
Farm manager	89	35.0%
Operator	25	9.8%
Embassy/Consulate	0	0.0%
Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) – (UK Government)	3	1.2%
UK Visa and Immigration (UKVI) – (Home Office and UK Government)	2	0.8%
Other	89	35.0%
Total	254	100.0%

Those who stated they had raised a formal complaint were then asked the nature of their complaint, with a free-text box provided in which to respond. There was a large number (171) of unrelated or undecipherable responses from the 367 respondents. Some respondents also identified multiples issues. Complaints related to supervisors or managers were stated most frequently (69), followed by accommodation (30) and then discrimination or racism (29) (see annex B, Table B1).

The final question asked of those who stated they had raised a formal complaint was what was the outcome of their complaint. Of the 360 respondents, 58.9% (212) stated that it was followed up but 41.1% (148) stated that it was not. This is a similar proportion to the 2022 survey where 69 of the 166 respondents (41.6%) who raised a formal complaint stated it was not followed up.

The 1,301 respondents who stated they had a grievance but did not raise a complaint were then asked why not. The most common reason, stated by 27.6% of these respondents, was that they did not believe any action would be taken. Others believed they would lose their job (22.1%), and some were worried it would affect their right to stay in the UK (19.1%).

Table 18: Reason why a complaint was not raised

Respondents were asked to tick all that apply, therefore percentages may not equal 100%.

Reason complaint not raised	Respondents	Percentage
Concerned my employer would find out	93	7.2%
Did not know who was responsible for the particular complaint	196	15.1%
Afraid I would lose my job	287	22.1%
Did not believe action would be taken	358	27.6%
Was worried it would have an impact on my right to stay in the UK	248	19.1%
Other	6	0.5%

Transfers

2,912 workers (23.5% of all survey respondents) requested a transfer to another farm during their time working in the UK. Of those, 1883 (64.9%) were transferred, while 862 (29.7%) were not and 157 (5.4%) of respondents were unable to move even though the transfer was granted.

A similar, but slightly higher, proportion of respondents to the 2023 survey stated they requested a transfer compared to the 2022 survey (23.5% compared with 22.8% respectively). The question related to successful transfer requests was phrased differently in 2023 but overall, a higher proportion of respondents to the 2023 survey (64.9%) were transferred compared with the 2022 survey (56.1%).

Table 17 shows the most stated reason given by respondents for a transfer request was a lack of hours on their current farm. The next most often stated reason was to be with friends.

Table 19: Reason for requesting a transfer to another farm

Reason for requesting a transfer	Respondents	Percentage
Not enough hours on current farm	1093	37.8%
To be with friends	587	20.3%
Better conditions on new farm	298	10.3%
Poor treatment from supervisor or others on current farm	409	14.2%
Other	503	17.4%
Total	2890	100.0%

A higher proportion of respondents to the 2023 survey (64.9%) were transferred compared with the 2022 survey (56.1%).

Table 18 shows that, of those who were refused a transfer, the largest proportion (32.2%), were given no reason for the refusal. The next most common reasons were that no job was available at the farm they wanted to go to, or there was no suitable farm to go to.

Table 20: Reason why transfer was refused.

Reason why transfer was refused	Respondents	Percentage
No job available at the farm I wanted to go to	178	20.7%
No suitable farm to transfer to	144	16.7%
No reason given	277	32.2%
Required on current farm	63	7.3%
Visa was about to expire	58	6.7%
Additional training requirements made it impractical	0	0.0%
Other	140	16.3%
Total	860	100.0%

Access to healthcare

The survey showed that 1,021 respondents (8.3%), needed medical treatment due to sickness or injury while in the UK. Of those respondents that needed treatment 684 (67.1%) received it.

Table 19 provides the reasons given by 335 respondents on why treatment was not provided. Not being able to travel to where they could seek treatment was the most commonly picked reason (42.1%), with 24.8% stating they were not able to register with a GP. Additionally,18.5% of respondents were told they had to continue to work and 14.6% of respondents stated that they could not afford to take time off work.

Table 21: Reason for not receiving treatment for sickness or injury.

Reason for not receiving treatment	Respondents	Percentage
I was not able to travel to where I could seek treatment	141	42.1%
I could not afford to take time off work	49	14.6%
I was told I had to continue working	62	18.5%
I was not able to register with a GP	83	24.8%
Total	335	100.0%

The responses to the question “were you well supported in accessing and receiving your treatment?” are set out in Table 20. While 69.8% of respondents said that they were well supported, 21.6% of respondents stated that either the farm, their visa sponsor or both did not support them in accessing treatment. Analysis of the free text responses suggests a lack of support and compassion in a few instances.

Table 22: Support in accessing and receiving treatment.

Support in accessing and receiving treatment	Respondents	Percentage
Yes	711	69.8%
No, I was not well supported by the farm	147	14.4%
No, I was not well supported by my visa sponsor	17	1.7%
No, I was not well supported by the farm or my visa sponsor	56	5.5%
Other, I was not able to travel to where I could seek treatment	87	8.5%
Total	1018	100.0%

Some of the comments made by respondents in free text answers (translated into English where necessary) on access to healthcare include:

I worked for a month and a half and damaged my knee; because they didn’t take me to hospital, I wasn’t able to work on my feet. So, I flew to Kyrgyzstan”.

2023 seasonal worker survey respondent

I was sick, and my supervisor fired me because I was in caravan not on the field”.

2023 seasonal worker survey respondent

Boxes fell on our heads, and the bosses turned a blind eye. No one wanted to take you to a medical facility if you were unwell, as that would damage the farm’s reputation. The attitude of the leaders towards the workers was terrible. And many more little things like that”.

2023 seasonal worker survey respondent

An expanded and differently phrased set of questions relating to healthcare was asked in the 2023 survey and so comparisons with the 2022 survey are not possible.

Overall Satisfaction

It is extremely important to understand whether the overall experience of a migrant coming to work in the UK and whether it is a positive one. This is not only from the point of view of the seasonal workers and their welfare, but also for our farms who need more experienced and productive workers to return year on year. For this it is vital that workers report a good experience and can recommend the UK as a place to come and work when they return home.

As Table 21 below shows, the vast majority (11,502 or 91.0% of respondents) stated that their overall experience of seasonal work in the UK was either extremely positive or positive. Only 428 workers (3.4%) said their experience was negative or extremely negative.

This shows an improvement compared with the 2022 survey, where 85.9% of respondents stated that their overall experience of seasonal work in the UK was either extremely positive or positive.

Table 23: Description of experience of working in the UK

Experience of working in the UK	Respondents	Percentage
Extremely positive	5273	41.7%
Positive	6229	49.3%
Neither positive nor negative	703	5.6%
Negative	311	2.5%
Extremely negative	117	0.9%
Total	12633	100.0%

Response variations by nationality showed Uzbek (96.3%), Kazakh (93.0%) and Kyrgyz respondents (94.7%) respondents to report a positive or extremely positive experience working in the UK

Conversely, Tajik, and ‘Other’ respondents were most likely to report a negative or extremely negative experience working in the UK, although the numbers were still relatively small compared to those reporting positive experiences. 7.6% of Tajik respondents, and 4.5% of ‘Other’ respondents, reported negative or extremely negative experiences (see annex Table A7).

The survey showed that most respondents (95.0%) would like to work on a UK farm again, with only 1.6% of respondents stating that they would not, and the remaining 3.4% of respondents being undecided or preferring not to say.

This is a slight increase on the situation revealed by 2022 survey, where 91.4% stated they would like to work on a UK farm again for seasonal work.

Table 24: Future work on a UK farm

Future work on a UK farm	Respondents	Percentage
I would like to work on a UK farm again	11,736	95.0%
I do not want to work on a UK farm again	193	1.6%
I have not decided whether I want to work on a UK farm again	306	2.5%
Prefer not to say	117	0.9%
Total	12,352	100.0%

Response variations by nationality with a lower proportion of respondents in the Other Nationality category stated they would like to work on a UK farm again (83.0%). In addition, a greater proportion of respondents in the Other Nationality category said they were undecided as to whether they would want to work on a UK farm again (9.0%, see annex Table A8).

Some of the comments made by respondents in free text answers (translated into English where necessary) on overall experience whilst in the UK include:

I’m very happy that, on the whole, I had such a good work experience! I earned money, saw England, made lots of friends! I’m very happy”.

2023 seasonal worker survey respondent

I worked for 2 seasons, working on different farms. Gained a lot of experience in the field of agriculture. I got to know the culture and traditions of the UK. In my free time, I travelled to different cities”.

2023 seasonal worker survey respondent

Overall, I’m happy. I didn’t have much time for leisure activities”.

2023 seasonal worker survey respondent

I was unhappy with the attitude of the supervisors; there is discrimination based on nationality

2023 seasonal worker survey respondent

I really liked working in Britain in general, I liked everything, it was fun, feeling like you were part of this kingdom even if for a short time, this overrode all the downsides, I would happily go back to work there for a seasonal job

2023 seasonal worker survey respondent

Section C – Discussion and Conclusion

The Seasonal Workers visa route continues to provide a vital source of labour for the horticulture and poultry sectors. For 2023 (and 2024), 45,000 visas were available for horticulture, with scope for another 10,000 if needed, and a further 2,000 earmarked for the poultry sector in the autumn. 

The improved response rate to the 2023 survey (13,911 completed surveys), compared with previous surveys, means that the survey findings reflect the views of a greater proportion of the 32,724 workers who were granted Seasonal Worker visas in 2023. The 2023 survey continues the positive findings from the 2022 survey that the vast majority of workers who come to the UK through the visa route are satisfied with their living and working experience whilst here.

There are, however, some areas that continue to warrant additional focus and further investigation.

Table 25: Areas for future consideration

Topic	Issue
Complaints	Workers’ understanding of and trust in the complaints process, including how and where to escalate issues that cannot be resolved on farm
Pre-arrival costs	Minimising the potential for workers incurring unnecessary costs before arriving in the UK
Accommodation	Issues surrounding on-farm accommodation
Pay	Ensuring fair payment and issues around what constitutes ‘full payment’
Hours	Ensuring workers can receive sufficient hours of work
Healthcare	Ensuring easy access to healthcare

There is work ongoing across departments to assess whether the grievance routes available to seasonal workers are supporting them effectively. An effective grievance mechanism is essential so that poor treatment, pay issues or working conditions can be reported and dealt with effectively. Defra will also work with the sector to improve worker accommodation.

The commitment by Defra and wider government to reduce the risks of labour exploitation and modern slavery remains unwavering. Defra continues to work in partnership with cross government working groups to address issues highlighted in the worker welfare surveys and via other evidence.

During 2023, UK Visa and Immigration (UKVI) compliance staff visited 124 farms, and interviewed 1026 sponsored workers. The team is in monthly engagement with the sponsors and are available for ad hoc advice in relation to sponsorship duties. UKVI compliance staff visit farms primarily to ensure sponsors are adhering to their duties, but in addition undertake welfare checks on sponsored workers by interviewing a proportion of workers, checking correct salary paid and undertaking a sample check of accommodation. The team has increased the number of farms visited and migrant interviews carried out throughout the season.

To help reduce the risk of misinformation in source countries and reduce the scope for workers to incur unnecessary costs, the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) have put Memoranda of Understanding in place with Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan. These should help ensure that workers are sourced from legitimate businesses to reduce the scope for labour exploitation. The government will consider extending this approach to other countries where there is recruitment by sponsors.

Defra continues to work with the governments of the countries where workers are recruited, working with sponsors and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and other NGOs, to ensure workers are fully aware of what to expect when working on farms in the UK before they arrive, and how to avoid paying unnecessary costs and fees. Defra is also working with the Seasonal Worker Taskforce on how best to reduce the risks to workers from visa, travel and related costs. 

In collaboration with the IOM, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has undertaken a multi-phase project to support the safe participation of Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Tajik and Uzbek workers in the UK’s Seasonal Workers scheme. The project, funded by the UK Conflict, Stability and Security Fund (CSSF)/Integrated Security Fund (ISF) seeks to empower Central Asian migrants by enhancing their awareness and access to resources for safe migration to and from the UK. Interventions include providing free information, protection tools, and targeted orientation sessions and measures to mitigate risks posed by scammers, traffickers, and misinformation.

The worker welfare survey for 2024 will help to identify if issues raised by this survey are on-going or specific to 2023. Defra will implement the survey for 2024 shortly after the end of the season, with the continuing aim of improving the response rate and quality of responses.

Annex A Country-level data

Table A1: Country-level data: Amount paid by workers before arrival in the UK (number of respondents is 12780)

Amount paid by workers before arrival in the UK	Kazakh	Kyrgyz	Tajik	Uzbek	Other
£0	65.6%	72.9%	73.6%	63.1%	44.8%
£1 to £499	13.6%	10.8%	10.2%	14.1%	19.1%
£500 to £999	13.5%	13.4%	11.8%	16.0%	28.7%
£1000 to £2999	7.0%	2.7%	3.7%	6.5%	6.9%
£3000 to £4999	0.1%	0.1%	0.3%	0.3%	0.5%
£5000 to £9999	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
£10,000+	0.3%	0.2%	0.4%	0.1%	0.0%
Total	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%

Table A2: Country-level data: Items paid for before arrival in the UK.

Respondents were asked to tick all that apply - therefore percentages may not equal 100%. Total number of responses is 13,911.

Pre-arrival cost	Kazakh	Kyrgyz	Tajik	Uzbek	Other
Nothing	84.9%	87.0%	84.9%	54.7%	68.9%
Recruitment agent or job-finding fee	1.5%	0.6%	1.2%	2.1%	6.1%
Training fees	1.1%	0.4%	0.3%	6.3%	0.8%
Medical fees	1.0%	1.0%	1.0%	12.6%	11.1%
Interview fees	0.7%	0.3%	0.4%	1.8%	1.8%
Labour and Migration Ministry fees	1.6%	1.1%	1.4%	34.0%	2.2%
Uniform cost	2.6%	1.9%	2.4%	1.7%	3.9%
Other, please specify	0.6%	0.3%	0.1%	0.1%	0.3%

Table A3: Country-level data: Funding the costs.

Respondents were asked to tick all that apply, therefore percentages may not equal 100%. Total number of responses is 12,485.

Funded by	Kazakh	Kyrgyz	Tajik	Uzbek	Other
Savings	53.4%	51.2%	47.6%	59.3%	50.6%
Loan (family and friends)	23.8%	32.7%	33.7%	19.5%	31.0%
Formal Loan, for example, banks	21.5%	4.7%	5.4%	1.8%	4.6%
Informal loan, for example, money lenders	0.5%	0.8%	0.8%	5.8%	0.9%
Recruitment company	0.2%	0.5%	1.2%	1.5%	1.3%
Other, please specify	0.3%	0.8%	0.5%	0.6%	0.2%

Table A4: Country-level data: Contract provided in first language (number of respondents is 12,951)

Contract provided in first language	Kazakh	Kyrgyz	Tajik	Uzbek	Other
Yes	67.8%	60.4%	58.9%	60.4%	74.1%
No	32.2%	39.6%	41.1%	39.6%	25.9%
Total	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%

Table A5: Country-level data: Contract provided in a language fluent in (number of respondents is 4,839)

Contract provided in language fluent in	Kazakh	Kyrgyz	Tajik	Uzbek	Other
Yes	79.8%	86.8%	90.3%	91.0%	54.7%
No	20.2%	13.2%	9.7%	9.0%	45.3%
Total	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%

Table A6: Country-level data: Length of work in the UK (number of respondents is 12,580)

Length of work	Kazakh	Kyrgyz	Tajik	Uzbek	Other
Less than 2 months	2.6%	1.3%	1.1%	1.2%	4.4%
2 months or more, but less than 3 months	4.9%	2.7%	1.7%	1.6%	7.4%
3 months or more, but less than 4 months	7.0%	6.3%	5.5%	4.7%	11.7%
4 months or more, but less than -5 months	15.7%	20.5%	18.1%	18.3%	19.8%
5 months or longer	69.7%	69.1%	73.6%	74.3%	56.7%
Total	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%

Table A7: Country-level data: Experience of working in the UK (number of respondents is 12,633)

Experience of working in the UK	Kazakh	Kyrgyz	Tajik	Uzbek	Other
Extremely positive	40.0%	39.7%	35.5%	57.2%	37.3%
Positive	53.0%	55.0%	48.7%	39.1%	48.4%
Neither positive nor negative	5.5%	3.6%	8.3%	2.6%	9.9%
Negative	1.0%	1.4%	5.8%	1.0%	2.2%
Extremely negative	0.5%	0.3%	1.8%	0.1%	2.3%
Total	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%

Table A8: Country-level data: Work on a UK farm again (number of respondents is 12,352)

Work on a UK Farm again	Kazakh	Kyrgyz	Tajik	Uzbek	Other
I would like to work on a UK farm again	94.6%	96.9%	98.4%	96.2%	83.0%
I do not want to work on a UK farm again	1.3%	0.6%	0.7%	2.4%	4.5%
I have not decided whether I want to work on a UK farm again	3.3%	1.8%	0.6%	1.0%	9.0%
Prefer not to say	0.8%	0.7%	0.3%	0.4%	3.6%
Total	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%

Annex B Free-text analysis coded summaries

Table B1 – Coded analysis of the nature of complaint from a free text question

Nature of Complaint	Respondents
Supervisor or Managers	69
Accommodation	30
Discrimination / Racism	29
Transfer	21
Limited number of hours	20
PAY (processes, for example, delay, incorrect)	16
Limited hours or target	14
PAY (dissatisfaction)	14
Working condition	11
Co-workers	10
Bullying Harassment	5
PPE (lack of, or requirement to pay for)	4
Operator	2
Assault / sexual assault	2
Health and safety	1
Unrelated or undecipherable	171
Total	419

Note: Complaints about transfers were not included in this section, though some respondents have included within their free-text responses, but this may not be representative.

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