Some of the millions of British workers furloughed during the coronavirus lockdown will be encouraged to take a second job picking fruit and vegetables, the government has said.
Giving the daily COVID-199 briefing, Environment Secretary George Eustice said only a third of the migrant labour needed to help carry out such tasks was in the country.
He said: "We're also acutely aware that we're about to start the British season in fresh produce, in soft fruits and salads.
"We estimate that probably only about a third of the migrant labour that would normally come to the UK is here, and was probably here before lockdown.
"We are working with industry to identify an approach that will encourage those millions of furloughed workers in some cases to consider taking a second job, helping get the harvest in June."
He added: "It's not an issue at the moment since the harvest has barely begun, but we do anticipate that there will be a need to recruit staff for those sectors in the month of June."
More than 430,000 businesses have applied for the government's scheme to pay the wages of 3.2 million furloughed workers.
Firms impacted by the COVID-19 crisis are able to claim for government cash to pay 80% of each employee's wages, up to £2,500 per month.
Mr Eustice also said there were isolated cases of trade being disrupted by the coronavirus crisis, including goods coming from India.
He said supermarkets had increased the number of delivery lots from 2.1 million to 2.6 million, with the aim of boosting that number to 2.9 million.
It comes as England, Scotland and Wales have reported fewer new hospital deaths linked to coronavirus than figures released yesterday - but there have still been 413 reported deaths across the UK.
The vast majority of deaths have been in England where 336 deaths have been confirmed today, compared with 711 reported yesterday. The overall figure is now 18,420.
- Scotland has reported 18 more coronavirus deaths in hospitals, taking its total to 1,249. Scotland reported 47 on Saturday.
- Wales has reported 14 more deaths in hospitals, taking its total to 788. Wales reported 23 on Saturday.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMigQFodHRwczovL25ld3Muc2t5LmNvbS9zdG9yeS9jb3JvbmF2aXJ1cy1mdXJsb3VnaGVkLXdvcmtlcnMtdG8tYmUtZW5jb3VyYWdlZC10by10YWtlLWZydWl0LXBpY2tpbmctam9icy10by1oZWxwLXVrLWhhcnZlc3QtMTE5NzkxNDPSAYUBaHR0cHM6Ly9uZXdzLnNreS5jb20vc3RvcnkvYW1wL2Nvcm9uYXZpcnVzLWZ1cmxvdWdoZWQtd29ya2Vycy10by1iZS1lbmNvdXJhZ2VkLXRvLXRha2UtZnJ1aXQtcGlja2luZy1qb2JzLXRvLWhlbHAtdWstaGFydmVzdC0xMTk3OTE0Mw?oc=5
2020-04-26 16:01:42Z
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