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Dept for Environment Food and Rural Affairs

Answer

Mr. Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what guidance her Department has issued to assist legitimate labour providers in complying with gangmasters licensing regulations. [224490] Alun Michael: The Government are working to ensure that labour provider businesses have robust business systems in place in advance of the introduction of licensing later this year. Regulation of the industry is intended to end exploitation and drive out illegal activity. In parallel to developing the licensing system, we are working to help legitimate labour providers to be successful and robust businesses. To facilitate this process we are working closely with the Ethical Trading Initiative Temporary Labour Working Group to promote the Code of Practice which the group launched in November 2004. Labour providers are being invited to arrange for their businesses to be audited against the code. Those that do will be offered a pre audit business consultancy session to assess their business and offer advice on problem areas. This process has the full backing of the supermarkets, the Association of Labour Providers, the Transport and General Workers Union and the National Farmers Union. To help reduce the cost to labour providers, the Government will be meeting a proportion of the cost of the consultancy advice and audit activities on a first come first served basis. The Chairman of the Gangmasters Licensing Authority has also indicated, that the cost of a licence audit will be reduced where a labour provider has previously been audited against the Temporary Labour Working Group Code by an auditor meeting the competencies set by the Gangmasters Licensing Authority. In the longer term the Gangmasters Licensing Authority will be responsible for developing regulations setting out the conditions labour providers will be required to comply with under the new gangmaster licensing arrangements. Regulations establishing the Gangmasters Licensing Authority are in place and the authority started work on 1 April. The authority will be consulting on licence conditions over the next few weeks and hopes to have regulations in place establishing the detailed licensing arrangements by the autumn. It is anticipated that the authority will develop best practice guidance for labour providers alongside the regulations.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

432 c1663W;432 c1658-9W; 224490

Session

2004-05

Subjects

Codes of practice Casual workers Licensing Gangmasters Seasonal workers Gangmasters Licensing Authority

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk