@ 30. Apr. 2010. – 10:46:15
Like a few million others I watched the third leaders election broadcast last night. For those with a passing interest in politics I must admit there was little said or insinuated that was news to me except.....when clever clogs { I could`ve been a contender} Clegg stated for the third or was it the fourth time that his immigration policy of "send them to the colonies or was that regions" combined with tackling the gangmasters who place workers, legal and illegal, often in the agricultural industry made me sit up and take notice. The very term GANGMASTER evokes scenes of 19th century sugar plantations in the Americas. Having lived in an urban area all my life I know absolutely nothing about the employment of foreign workers except the ubiquitous Polish plumber who replaced my shower door, fitted some windows and did some simple electrical work a couple of years ago.
The Gangmasters Licensing Authority a late arrival to the list of Labour`s quangos was set up by the Gangmasters (Licensing) Act 2004. It became active on 1 October 2006 when it became an offence for labour providers in the agri-business industry to operate without a licence. In November 2006 it also became an offence for labour users to employ workers supplied by unlicensed labour providers. Furthermore, from 6 April 2007, the act was extended to cover the shellfish gathering industry – a sector reputed to be notoriously difficult to regulate, explaining why it was given slightly longer to implement licensing. In this industry, it is now also an offence to provide labour without holding a licence or for labour users to employ workers supplied by unlicensed gang masters. Its purpose is to regulate those who supply labour or use workers to provide services in agriculture, forestry, horticulture, shellfish gathering and food processing and packaging. It would appear to this amateur accountant that this quango is running a current deficit of £750,000 p/a.
Since its inception the GLA has revoked 39 licenses. In this organisation`s latest published minutes [meeting 13/01/10] no mention is made of prosecutions past, in progress or being considered. A flavour of the meeting can be obtained from this section quoted below:-
There has been an 80% increase in operational resource, with particular emphasis on working in hotspot local areas to generate intelligence and work with local agencies, businesses and worker representatives. Increases in back office staff have been kept to a minimum. LPs bemused that operational outputs continue to be compliance inspections, despite repeated announcements of a move from compliance to enforcement. More enforcement resource than envisaged is still required for compliance inspections due to the unexpectedly high volume of new applications. In addition, application inspections now often involve more complex investigations and therefore take significantly longer than in the past. While additional enforcement officers have been recruited in recent weeks, the process of fully training and incorporating these is ongoing, and their contribution is expected to show results over the coming months. Despite placing greater emphasis on enforcement, the GLA must continue to monitor compliance among licensed businesses and ensure that standards do not slip. Additional enforcement officers have been recruited on 12 months contracts purely because funding could not be guaranteed beyond 2011.
Earlier this year on January 29th the first prosecution took place when a Scottish fruit farmer became the first person to be convicted for using an unlicensed gangmaster based in Bulgaria to supply 250 workers to pick fruit. The gangmaster of course could not be prosecuted. But an important purpose of this legislation is that the end user must be deterred. He was fined £500. No information is available regarding prosecution costs. The maximum penalty for operating without a licence is 10 years in prison and a fine. The maximum penalty for using an unlicensed Gangmaster is 6 months in prison and a fine. So our Scottish farmer received in my opinion a rap over the knuckles from the Sheriff at Perth Sheriff Court but at this distance with limited knowledge intelligent further comment on the adequacy of the fine is impossible.
On 15 April at Peterborough Magistrates Court a Cambridgeshire based gangmaster was sentenced for operating as a gangmaster without a licence. He was fined £300.
Unless I am deaf, dumb and blind and play pinball all day long this is the organisation that the Lib Dems are relying upon to protect us from the "criminal gangs" profiting from the misery and political cancer of illegal immigration.
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