The Gangmasters Licensing Authority has announced that there will be no increase in licence fees for the year to 31 March 2011.

For the current 1,185 licence holders they will only need to pay the renewal fee, and for those with a turnover of less than £1m this will only cost £400.

Anybody who is applying for a licence for the first time will have to pay the inspection fee and application fee.

Ray Dawson, chief operating officer of the GLA, says: “We are aware of the tough economic conditions currently facing our licence holders and we are delighted to announce the freezing of fees for 2010/11.

“This is the fourth year running we have managed to keep the Band D costs unchanged at £400. As Band D clients represent over 75% of licence holders this keeps the regulatory burden on smaller businesses to an absolute minimum.”