Memorandum submitted by the National Farmers'
Union
1. The NFU welcomes this opportunity to
submit new evidence to the Efra Committee into the activities
of gangmasters an issue which has gained new prominence since
the Committee published its report on the subject last September.
As we said last April, the whole area of seasonal/casual-type
workers, including those supplied by gangmasters is of immense
importance to members of the NFU, particularly those involved
in horticulture.
2. The Committee has invited specific evidence
on the effectiveness of the Government's activities since September
last year in dealing with the activities of illegal gangmasters
in the areas covered by Defra (including agriculture, horticulture
and fisheries), and whether there has been any change in the Government's
approach.
3. Overall we believe that the level of
knowledge and understanding in the industry about Operation Gangmaster
remains lamentably low. Of course it is appreciated that some
of the activities we are assured that it carries out have to be
covert to be effective. Nonetheless much more needs to be done
by Defra and the enforcement agencies to keep the industry informed
and to encourage its support and assistance in reducing abuses
by some gangmasters in respect of workers' rights and in relation
to compliance with the law on employment, taxation, health and
safety etc.
4. The growing concern about the gangmaster
issue was underlined by the large attendance (over 160 from across
South Lincolnshire and Fenland businesses engaged in growing,
packing and processing food) at a half day seminar on contract
labour run by the NFU in Spalding in January. As well as the conclusion
on Operation Gangmaster referred to in paragraph 3 above, the
seminar concluded—
— There was merit in principle in a
scheme for licensing gangmasters to assist enforcement, subject
to any new obligations on employers being reasonable.
— Better information and understanding
was needed of the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme requirements,
and how SAWS workers interact with the contract labour market.
— The draft Code of Practice for Labour
Providers sets out the basic standard of employment practice that
responsible labour providers should achieve, together with a system
of auditing compliance with the standard set out in the Code.
A tool kit (eg checklists and standard contracts) is being developed
to help responsible labour providers to meet the standard. The
process of auditing against the standard in the Code is currently
being trialed with a number of labour provider businesses and
their customers in the South Lincolnshire area, who have volunteered
to take part. The need to ensure publicity and adoption in the
area will be particularly important.
— More work needed to be done on the
social aspects of gang labour, including housing accommodation
in the areas where such labour is supplied. Local authorities
need to be closely involved in this.
5. We welcome the Government's recent decision
in the light of Jim Sheridan's Bill and well publicised incidents
to support the principle of introducing a licensing system for
gangmasters—though we regret that it is likely to be confined
in the first instance to the agricultural, horticultural, and
shellfish industries. We will comment on the details of a scheme
when Jim Sheridan is in a position to table amendments to the
Bill which are acceptable to the Government. In the meantime we,
together with the TGWU, have made plain to Defra ministers that
we do not believe it would be appropriate for the Government to
devolve responsibility for a licensing scheme to a prescribed
industry body, as the industry has little experience of running
a licence operation backed up by enforcement by official agencies
and criminal offences. Moreover the government machine is best
placed to take direct responsibility for a function of this kind
and to ensure the necessary co-ordination of the various official
agencies with an interest in delivering more effective enforcement
of the law. The industry is however committed to making a licence
scheme work successfully and stands ready to play its part in
providing advice and facilitating the activities of the licensing
body, whether this be an in-house Defra operation, or a new statutory
authority set up for the purpose.
March 2004
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