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Artikel

6 Sep 2024

Autor:
ITV News

Seasonal workers at prestigious farm given 'cramped and undignified' accommodation

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Seasonal workers at Castleton –S one of the country’s biggest, most prestigious fruit farms – are being given substandard accommodation and “undignified” living conditions...

However, workers have told us about “overcrowding” in the static caravan accommodation provided to seasonal workers...

The workers tell us they do a physical job by day, and then they “must sleep in one position because there is barely room to move” for the six months they live on Castleton Farm...

ITV News has also learned how a two-bedroom caravan at Castleton is being rented out for approximately £1,200 per month...

“Those conditions look unacceptable,” [First Minister] John Swinney said in response to the evidence presented to him.

“Obviously the points you’re putting to me about cost [of the caravan accommodation] are equally troubling as well.”

He added he will now look into closing the legal loophole, saying: “I will certainly explore that.”...

In a statement, Castleton Farm told us they try to avoid having strangers sharing bedrooms, and said, “Castleton Fruit Ltd is a family owned and run business.

“We have supplied the UK’s major supermarkets for over 30 years. As part of this we are independently audited regularly, which includes an assessment of how we treat our workforce and our standard of accommodation; workers are randomly selected and interviewed as part of this process...

Castleton Farm adds that they are “replacing static style caravans with modern chalet style accommodation,” and say, “we take great pride in the accommodation and conditions we provide,” which they say “represents good value compared with private sector accommodation.”

The farm in Aberdeenshire is not the only place where the investigation found concerns about accommodation...

The windows on the accommodation at Leabank Nursery are visibly in a state of disrepair, the furniture is stained, the heater doesn’t work, and even the toilet is broken.

Seasonal workers from Central Asia came to the UK on six month visas to support the country’s agricultural sector, and their job was to grow and pick aubergines....

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