Government finally takes forward Tim Farron’s call for youth mobility visa to tackle Lakes staffing crisis

After years of campaigning, Westmorland and Lonsdale MP Tim Farron has warmly welcomed today’s news that the Prime Minister will offer to extend the Youth Mobility Visa scheme to countries in the EU.

The plan would see tens of thousands of workers and students from the EU allowed to live and work in the UK for up to three years, with 18 to 30-year-old Britons granted similar access to the European Union.

Tim had led a delegation of hospitality and tourism leaders from Cumbria to meet with three different Immigration Ministers in Westminster over the past six years to make the case for this scheme in order to tackle the staffing crisis in their sector.

Tim said: “I’m delighted that the Government have finally listened to our calls for a youth mobility scheme with the EU.

“For years, the Lake District hospitality industry have been finding it increasingly difficult to fill job vacancies.

“Our area has an ageing population with a small working age population, which together with a low unemployment rate, means there is not the pool of local labour from which to recruit.

“After doggedly campaigning for this, I’m really pleased to see that the Prime Minister is starting to listen to the needs of Cumbria’s world-class hospitality sector.”