Supplementary memorandum submitted by
the Gangmasters Licensing Authority
INTRODUCTION
1. This paper gives an update on the GLA's
work. This includes summaries of two very serious cases of forced
labour and lessons to be learned from a pilot on identifying victims.
When GLA officials gave evidence to the Committee last April,
there was some interest in how the Authority works with foreign
authorities. With this in mind, an update is also included highlighting
recent work with the Bulgarian authorities.
CASE STUDIES
OF GLA WORK
Timberland Homes Recruitment Ltd
2. Timberland Home Recruitment Ltd had its
licence revoked with immediate effect on 6 May 2008. Timberland
were based in Suffolk but sent workers to pick flowers in Cornwall
and Scotland. GLA officers found:
— a threatening letter to workers stating
that they were not free to leave before the end of the contract
without paying £700, and if they did not have the money this
would be recovered from the workers or their families in their
home country,
— some workers stated that they received
£24 for a nine hour day,
— workers received 4p per bunch of flowers
picked,
— no timesheets were used, so pay could
not be accurately recorded,
— Scottish Agricultural Minimum Wage was
not being paid,
— Vehicle Operator Services Agency had
issued prohibition notices on six Timberland minibuses in Cornwall
and Timberland flouted the law by transporting the workers to
Scotland in these vehicles and continued to use these minibuses
for transporting workers there on a daily basis,
— workers did not give their consent for
transport and accommodation deductions, and
— in the workers' accommodation there were
not enough beds for the 43 workers and only four toilets between
them. The Kitchen facilities were poor and used bedding and laundry
were kept in the cooking area thus creating a serious hygiene
and fire hazard. Tayside Fire and Rescue inspected the accommodation
at the request of the GLA and found the premises to be unsatisfactory
and issued a report stating that it should be rectified without
delay.
3. Timberland Homes Recruitment Ltd did
not appeal against the GLA decision. They are no longer permitted
to trade in the GLA licensable sectors. However, they are believed
to be still operating in the non-GLA regulated sectors, including
construction.
OPERATION RUBY
4. On 18 November 2008, the GLA worked with
Northamptonshire Police on a major operation—believed to
be the largest of its kind ever mounted in the UK—to disrupt
an organised crime group thought to be trafficking people into
the UK for the purposes of labour exploitation.
5. More than 200 staff from nine organisations,
including Northamptonshire Police, the UKHTC, the UK Borders Agency,
The Serious Organised Crime Agency and the GLA raided a field
in South Lincolnshire and searched 21 houses in Kettering. Eight
people were arrested on suspicion of human trafficking for the
purposes of labour exploitation.
6. The investigation—called Operation
Ruby—centred on allegations that people were recruited through
advertisements and agencies in Eastern Europe and travelled to
the UK on the promise of work. When they arrived, it is believed
their documents were taken and much of their wages withheld to
pay for their housing and transport costs.
7. The GLA had already revoked without immediate
effect the lience of the labour provider connected with this investigation.
Following the police operation, the GLA upgraded its decision
to immediate effect, thereby meaning the business had to close
down immediately.
PILOT TO
IDENTIFY VICTIMS
OF TRAFFICKING
FOR FORCED
LABOUR
8. During the Summer in 2008, the Home Office
ran pilots across the UK with the aim of identifying victims of
trafficking for forced labour. The objectives of the pilot were:
— to increase understaning of the scale,
scope and nature of human trafficking for forced labour in the
UK,
— to increase awareness and ability of
front line staff to identify potential victims with front line
staff and to limit the possibility of inaccurate identification,
— to improve the identification process
including a national referral mechanism to a competent authority,
— to improve access to accommodation and
support for victims, and
— to increase investigations and convictions.
9. The GLA was responsible for leading the
pilot in the East of England (which includes Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire
and Norfolk). During the course of the pilot no cases of forced
labour were identified. This does not mean there is no significant
problem—the pilot did identify a clear training need for
fronltline staff in the police to identify potential victims.
10. The pilot also ran in the West Midlands
(led by the UK Border Agency) and a further strand of work involving
third sector partners in London.
ENGAGEMENT WITH
THE BULGARIAN
AUTHORITIES
11. A key strand of the GLA's work is to
improve links with the relevant authorities in other EU Member
States. An example of this is the recent engagement with the Bulgarian
authorities.
12. In February 2009 the GLA agreed arrangements
to work with the Bulgarian Chief Labour Inspectorate to monitor
and control companies supplying workers to the UK. The agreement
was reach during a meeting held in January 2009 initiated by the
GLA and assisted by the British Embassy in Bulgaria. The need
for such an agreement was proposed following incidents investigated
by the GLA last year when Bulgarian seasonal workers in the agriculture
sector reported that they were exploited in the UK. These incidents
also involved cases of violation of UK and Bulgarian legislation
by Bulgarian intermediary companies and British employers. This
included allegedly posting the workers to the UK under the Posting
of Workers DEU Directive. However, it was identified that the
companies did not have the correct authority to post workers.
The workers were therefore considered to be working illegally
in the UK due to the work restriction on Romanian and Bulgarian
nationals.
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