ACCORDING to a survey done by Cumbria Tourism, nearly 4 in 5 businesses in the hospitality trade are struggling for staff, with the Government offering to address this as a priority. 

South Lakes MP Tim Farron cited the survey to the House of Commons on Tuesday, November 8. This was during a lead debate on migration, hospitality and tourism.

The headline figures from the survey are that 73 per cent of businesses say recruitment is a problem, with more than half citing it as a significant problem, and a lack of job applicants is an issue for 78 per cent of employers. 

Mr Farron proposed a Youth Mobility Visa for Europe: "We need a visa like the Youth Mobility Scheme, which is flexible across sectors. Of course, that scheme already exists for places such as Australia and New Zealand.

"How about also developing youth mobility visa agreements with countries whose populations are large and much closer geographically?"

The new Minister for Immigration, Robert Jenrick said that 'any help we can give to him (Tim Farron) to ensure that his hospitality and tourism sector continues to thrive is a priority for me.'

Continuing, Mr Jenrick said: "I fully support youth mobility visas and would like to see more of them. Most recently we have progressed that idea through the Australia and New Zealand free trade agreements, while negotiations are ongoing with other countries. We are open to more agreements, which clearly must be reciprocal. With respect to European countries, we are open to that debate.

“The EU is currently seeking an agreement across the whole European Union, rather than on a state-by-state basis; although that does not preclude us from entering into it, it clearly means a longer and more complex negotiation than if we were able to negotiate with individual states.”

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When Mr Farron was asked if a scheme such as a youth mobility visa for Europe would ignore the Brexit vote, Mr Farron replied: "We do not need to train our own. 80 per cent of the working-age population already works in hospitality and tourism."

He said that there 'has never been an issue' where locals in Cumbria have been replaced by foreign workers in the sector. Mr Farron said it was about 'coming up with a scheme' that would help hospitality get staff in a tight labour market. 

Gill Haigh, the managing director of Cumbria Tourism, said: "Our business tracker research clearly shows that ongoing issues around recruitment, retention and skill haven't gone away.

"We would certainly like to see the Youth Mobility Scheme extended to other countries to help bring more new talent into the local workforce and would welcome the opportunity to speak to the new Minister for Immigration about this in more detail.

"In the meantime, we will continue to fight Cumbria’s corner around recruitment and skills  through our ongoing lobbying work with our MPs, key government departments and national industry bodies including The Tourism Alliance and UK Hospitality.”