The Gangmasters’ Licensing Authority

The Gangmasters Licensing Authority, established following the Morecombe Bay cockle-picking tragedy in which 23 Chinese workers lost their lives, plays a key role in combating false self-employment in the sectors where it operates: agriculture, horticulture, shellfish gathering, food and drink processing and packaging. It is a criminal offence to supply workers without a licence or to use an unlicensed labour provider.

The GLA’s remit was substantially reduced under the last government. Since October 2013, the GLA no longer automatically inspects all businesses that apply for an operating licence. Instead it uses a “risk-based” approach, a change which, according to the GLA’s own analysis, could result in more than one in five rogue gangmasters being awarded a licence.

Trade unions have called for the GLA’s remit to be extended to other sectors where workers are at high risk of exploitation, including construction, hospitality and social care.