Written question asked by Lord Carter (Labour), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Lord Bach (Labour) on Monday, 7 November 2005.

Gangmasters Licensing Authority

Question: Whether inspection of gangmasters by the Gangmasters Licensing Authority will be risk-based or based on random inspection; and

Answer: The inspection arrangements that will apply for the purposes of the licensing arrangements introduced under the Gangmasters (Licensing) Act 2004 have not been finalised. The Gangmasters Licensing Authority is currently consulting on the detailed licensing arrangements and a copy of their consultation paper is on their website (www.gla.gov.uk). Comments are required by 12 December. Decisions on the level of inspection will be taken in the light of the responses to the consultation exercise.The Gangmasters Licensing Authority has proposed that a risk-based approach should be adopted in relation to application and compliance inspections. However, the authority has acknowledged that there may not be sufficient evidence available initially, to move immediately to a risk-based approach for application inspections. The Gangmaster Licensing Authority board has recommended that if there is insufficient evidence to establish a meaningful risk profile from the outset, inspections should be conducted for all applicants for an initial period. A risk-based approach would be introduced at the earliest possible time, as agreed by the board.The Gangmasters Licensing Authority has proposed that licences should be continuous unless revoked. Renewal will be an administrative process triggered by payment of a fee. The authority has suggested that there will be no need for a specific inspection at renewal although all licence holders will be subject to risk-based compliance checks.

Secondary information