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Blacklisting (Construction Industry)

I agree that anybody who has worked around the construction industry, and talked to people such as those I have talked to in preparing for the debate, gets the feeling that blacklisting has been around for many years, and that it is not just the large organisations that we have mentioned that organise it but the construction companies themselves. They prepare blacklists and exchange them among themselves. As the Minister will be aware, the Information Commissioner is considering regulatory action against the firms involved. That is welcome, but the Government must move positively to bring into force section 3 of the 1999 Act to stop this outdated practice that has blighted many lives. I hope that he will say this evening that he is willing to act.