Christmas goods will be delivered to Scots consumers this winter despite labour shortages in the haulage industry and the food sector, MPs have been assured.
MPs on the Scottish Commons Affairs committee were told that the flow of goods in the run up to Christmas would be maintained
But industry figures told MPs that the effects of labour shortages were so profound and long-lasting after covid and Brexit that it was cheaper to fly in soft fruit from South America rather than harvest it in Aberdeenshire.
Martin Reid, Director of Scotland, Road Haulage Association, told MPs: “Christmas will be delivered. You might not get absolutely everything you want, absolutely all the time."
"Thankfully our industry is very quick, very nimble and as long as you’re not asking for the earth, Christmas will be will occur this year the same as every other year.”
He added: “There’s the additional pressure of seasonality, that’s traditionally a time when there’s all hands for the pump for the industry. But when there’s less hands to go to the pump, then that becomes an issue particularly with time-critical goods.”
Industry representatives told MPs that the squeeze on labour caused by the covid lockdown and new Brexit immigration rules would last beyond the winter season.
David Michie, of National Farmers Union of Scotland, said there had already been “big problems” with processing food crops and getting them to market because of a lack of transport and workers.
He said: “One of our members was unable to supply cauliflower and broccoli to get frozen at the end of August, About two and a half million heads of broccoli and one and a half million heads of cauliflower that were just dumped. Without the cost of packaging cost that was a cost of £1.1 million pounds lost due to the labour crisis.”
Agricultural suppliers are facing “unprecedented costs” for fertiliser, fuel and feed said Michie.
He told MPs: “Globally everyone’s facing increasing costs but because of the migration policy the labour costs are far higher for our members. So blueberries from Peru are being flown to supermarkets instead of blueberries from Aberdeenshire.”
Stephen Montgomery, Chair of Scottish Hospitality Group said restaurants and bars still had a large numbers of vacancies despite the end of lockdowns and furlough and were reluctant to invest because of ongoing uncertainty.
He told MPs: “I don’t think that this labour force shortage is going to be over in two years time. The recovery from covid is going to be here for a lot longer. We said last year, 18 months, now we’re here I think it’s a lot longer than 18 months.”
To sign up to the Daily Record Politics newsletter, click here.
