Oral question asked in the House of Commons, by Nia Griffith (Labour). It was answered on Wednesday, 8 February 2012 on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Gangmasters Licensing Authority

Question: Will the Minister confirm that he will not be watering down the powers of the GLA in any way? Does he agree that it could be strengthened if it was given the power to deal with matters using civil penalties, rather than through a lengthy court process?

Answer: That is a good point because we do think that the civil process could play a more enhanced role in the GLA. On the hon. Lady’s first comment, we are not planning to water anything down but, as I said, we are looking at how we can better target the GLA’s work on areas where there is a real problem. For several years, there has been concern that the GLA was spreading its wings into areas in which there was no problem to be addressed, such as the forestry sector. We need to refocus its efforts on the areas in which there is exploitation, and we, like her and everyone in the House, are determined to get on top of that.

Secondary information