Recruitment industry representative bodies welcome GLA’s move to the Home Office
10 April 2014
Organisations representing the recruitment industry have welcomed yesterday’s announcement that the Gangmasters Licensing Authority has become part of the Home Office, moving from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).
Thu, 10 Apr 2014Organisations representing the recruitment industry have welcomed yesterday’s announcement that the Gangmasters Licensing Authority has become part of the Home Office, moving from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).
A statement issued by the prime minister’s office says “the move will strengthen its enforcement and intelligence capabilities, putting it alongside the National Crime Agency’s (NCA) considerable resources to tackle the highest harm offenders”.
Prime Minister David Cameron said: “The changes we are making will help stop practices which exploit vulnerable workers and undercut local businesses that play by the rules.”
The GLA was set up in 2004 to protect workers after the death of 23 Chinese cockle pickers in Morecambe Bay.
GLA chief executive officer Paul Broadbent welcomes the announcement. “This is a logical move that can only lead to a more effective, joined up approach in the fight against those driven by greed who seek to exploit workers,” he says.
David Camp, director at the Association of Labour Providers, says that by making it easier for the GLA to work more closely with the National Crime Agency, the move “will boost the GLA’s capacity to dismantle and disrupt serious and organised crime and will increase its ability to identify and tackle human trafficking. The next step for the government is to extend the remit of the GLA to protect vulnerable workers to the wider labour market”.
Kevin Green, CEO at the Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC), says: “This is a sensible and welcome development and it’s something we have advocated. The GLA’s scope and responsibilities, especially around issues of migration, are better suited to being part of that department than part of Defra.”
At the same time, Number 10’s announcement confirmed tougher measures to be introduced to tackle illegal working and recruitment, including:
Adrian Marlowe, chairman of the Association of Recruitment Consultancies (ARC), says: “These new regulations primarily are designed to address illegal activity relating to low-paid immigrant workers, but the principles that relate to all, for example for breaches of the National Minimum Wage, make absolute sense. We commend the government as it is critical that rogue practices, which damage individuals and have the potential to tarnish the recruitment industry, are eradicated.”
A statement issued by the prime minister’s office says “the move will strengthen its enforcement and intelligence capabilities, putting it alongside the National Crime Agency’s (NCA) considerable resources to tackle the highest harm offenders”.
Prime Minister David Cameron said: “The changes we are making will help stop practices which exploit vulnerable workers and undercut local businesses that play by the rules.”
The GLA was set up in 2004 to protect workers after the death of 23 Chinese cockle pickers in Morecambe Bay.
GLA chief executive officer Paul Broadbent welcomes the announcement. “This is a logical move that can only lead to a more effective, joined up approach in the fight against those driven by greed who seek to exploit workers,” he says.
David Camp, director at the Association of Labour Providers, says that by making it easier for the GLA to work more closely with the National Crime Agency, the move “will boost the GLA’s capacity to dismantle and disrupt serious and organised crime and will increase its ability to identify and tackle human trafficking. The next step for the government is to extend the remit of the GLA to protect vulnerable workers to the wider labour market”.
Kevin Green, CEO at the Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC), says: “This is a sensible and welcome development and it’s something we have advocated. The GLA’s scope and responsibilities, especially around issues of migration, are better suited to being part of that department than part of Defra.”
At the same time, Number 10’s announcement confirmed tougher measures to be introduced to tackle illegal working and recruitment, including:
- doubling the maximum penalty for employing workers to £20k – comes into force in May 2014
- increasing the maximum fee for employers paying below the minimum wage from £5k to £20k for each worker underpaid
Adrian Marlowe, chairman of the Association of Recruitment Consultancies (ARC), says: “These new regulations primarily are designed to address illegal activity relating to low-paid immigrant workers, but the principles that relate to all, for example for breaches of the National Minimum Wage, make absolute sense. We commend the government as it is critical that rogue practices, which damage individuals and have the potential to tarnish the recruitment industry, are eradicated.”
