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20 August 2006 - GLA Warn Licence Deadline
Imminent
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Mike Wilson, Chief Executive of the Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA),
announced on Thursday 17 August that stakeholders supplying workers to the
agriculture, horticulture and food/drink processing and packaging sectors will
need a licence and was reminding them that they only have 2 weeks to complete
their application.
The application deadline for the licence, to make sure they are processed in
time, is 1 September 2006.
From 1 October 2006, it will be an offence to operate without a licence. The
offence is punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment and a fine.
From research, commissioned by Defra, it has been suggested that there are
1,000 Labour Providers supplying 600,000 workers in the UK. However, only
714 have applied for a GLA licence.
This figure suggests that almost 300 businesses may be operating illegally
when the new licence law becomes enforceable on 1 October 2006, the consequences
of which could be closures, resulting in labour shortages on farms and factories
throughout the UK.
Industry experts have commented that the suggested research figures are
perhaps underestimated and that potential labour shortages could be even more
serious.
Mr. Mike Wilson, Chief Executive of the GLA said:
"It will be illegal to operate as a labour provider in the affected areas
without a GLA licence after 1st October. And if insufficient labour providers
are licensed by this time, the industry will incur difficulty. The simple
solution is for labour providers to get themselves licensed.
"If everybody is licensed in time there will be little effect on the industry
except that standards will have risen and exploitation fallen. If labour
providers are not licensed, this could lead in the worst case scenario to
production and supply problems in the food industry".
Mr. Paul Whitehouse, Chairman of the GLA, said:
"The GLA has the power to stop any unlicensed business supplying labour.
"We will stop them and prosecute them even if it halts production in the
processing plant or pack house".
Further information and advice can be accessed from the GLA Website by
clicking the following:
Gangmasters
Licensing Authority Website
Article by Alexandra Johnston
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