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Blacklisting (Construction Industry)

I agree totally with my hon. Friend's comments. The fact that many of the companies making use of the Consulting Association are some of the country's largest construction companies is a worry. The fact that the public sector was the client in just over 31 per cent. of construction output in 2006, making it the industry's largest customer, suggests that the Government, as a major client, have some responsibility to use the powerful lever that exists to ensure that companies who use blacklists are not engaged on projects, which brings us to the point made by my hon. Friend the Member for Livingston (Mr. Devine). Still more could be done to change the behaviour of construction companies working on publicly procured projects by strict use of the 2007 regulations and the use of workers health and safety advisers, which together could start to change the culture. The Minister may have seen my early-day motion 1020, which does not demand new primary legislation. There is no need for such legislation because the power is already in the statute book and available to the Secretary of State—it just needs to be enabled. Section 3 of the 1999 Act provides that the Secretary of State may make regulations prohibiting the compilation of lists that contain details of members' trade unions or persons who have taken part in the activities of trade unions, and lists which are compiled with a view to being used by employers or employment agencies for the purpose of discrimination in relation to recruitment or to the treatment of workers. The Minister will know that in 2003, the Government consulted on the regulations. A number of trade unions and trade union law firms responded to say that rather than wait for evidence of blacklisting, the Government should enact the regulations immediately. They did not. But now that evidence has emerged that blacklisting is taking place, it is time to bring them into effect. If the Information Commissioner is to prosecute the Consulting Association and is considering what action to take against the construction companies to whom information has been supplied, the Government must use their powers under the regulations to ensure that structures are in place to prevent it from reoccurring. That is an important point that must be emphasised. We need to ensure sustainability for those working in the industry.