Partnership bulletin September 2024
REGULATION
Update from GLAA Licensing Manager, David Stockdale 
One of our main goals as a regulator is to drive compliance through engagement providing advice and guidance to licence holders.
This allows us to focus on the systematic and serious non-compliance with GLAA Licensing Standards whilst at the same time helping compliant licence holders avoid some mistakes that breach the Licensing Standards.
More recently, GLAA Licensing Officers have identified a couple of areas in relation to the Licensing Standards that require some attention and a reminder to licence holders.
Licensing Standard 1.3 is a Critical Standard.
Some licence holders have not complied with the clear requirement that they must notify the GLAA within 20 working days when they start to supply workers into the regulated sector following the issue of a GLAA licence.
Compliance with this standard is easy to achieve, and we would ask licence holders to take care to avoid the unnecessary breach of this Licensing Standard which could result in the revocation of a licence.
Licensing Standard 1.4 also places a requirement on the licence holder to inform the GLAA of any relevant changes in details.
Licensing Officers have identified a rise in cases where we have not been notified within the required 20 working days.
Please ensure that you are familiar with the requirements of all Licensing Standards and the clear timescales given.
That way non-compliance can be easily avoided and burdens on the time and resources of both the GLAA and a licence holder is reduced considerably.
Join our next online meeting for stakeholders and partners
Once a quarter, we invite stakeholders from various backgrounds to come and hear the latest developments in the labour market and the regulatory framework.
You could be a GLAA licence holder, supplying workers within our regulated sector. Or, you might be one of their clients, a labour user, who employs workers as part of your day-to-day business operations.
We also welcome those from connected trade associations, unions, NGOs and retailers as well as anyone else connected with the UK’s fresh produce supply chain.
Our next meeting will be on Tuesday 24th September at 11.00am. To be added to the Stakeholder meeting mailing list or to suggest topics for future meetings, simply email us at communications@gla.gov.uk. Invitations to this meeting will be sent out in due course.
Use of the GLAA logo by licence holders
Please remember, the GLAA's logo is issued by the government and features the Home Office crest. It is subject to Crown copyright. This means we are unable to authorise its use by licence holders.
Those licence holders who have added the GLAA's logo to their websites are asked to remove the image immediately and instead add a line stating ‘Licensed by the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority, unique reference number …….’ or ‘GLAA licensed: …..’.
Thank you for your understanding.
INTELLIGENCE
Our latest quarterly Intelligence Picture has been published on our website.
Key highlights
During the first quarter potential victims of forced labour were predominantly Indian males followed by Zimbabwean nationals. Several reports indicated that these potential victims were vulnerable to exploitation most commonly due to being tied into a sponsorship or visa. As a result employers threatened to cancel the sponsorship if the worker complained about their work.
Potential exploiters in the first quarter tended to be British males or Zimbabwean. They were reported to be the employer with the majority being from a care agency.
Care home/social care was the most reported sector throughout 2023/2024 as it was again in the first quarter of 2024/25. This is largely due to partner agencies signposting the GLAA for intelligence and information reporting.
Other sectors mentioned in reports this quarter include the hotel sector. Potential victims report working long hours with insufficient breaks. Due to low wages the workers are trapped in their situation and sometimes this leads to debt bondage where they owe a debt to their exploiter which can never be repaid. Workers also report being threatened by their employer.
Further information can be found in our latest Intelligence picture report.
NEWS
Two men have been arrested following a raid at two addresses as part of an investigation into modern slavery.
The GLAA carried out the arrests simultaneously of a 61-year-old man in Buckinghamshire and a 36-year-old Cheshire man on Tuesday 30 July 2024, following intelligence that staff were being exploited at a care home.
Nine people were rescued from a care home, based in North Wales, by the GLAA after it was reported that the workers had paid extortionate sponsorship fees, were living in overcrowded accommodation and forced to work up to 80 hours per week.
The two men were later released under investigation pending further enquiries after being questioned by the GLAA, Thames Valley Police and Cheshire Police.
GLAA Senior Investigating Officer Andy Brown said: “We received allegations that a number of people have been working and living in less than adequate conditions and in fear of deportation due to threats made to them.
“We will not hesitate to act when we receive reports of vulnerable people being exploited for their labour and is a primary focus for our organisation.
“I’d like to thank our partner agencies at Thames Valley Police and Cheshire Police for their assistance during these arrests and encourage anyone who suspects that workers are being exploited for their labour to contact us."
CONTACT US
You can report your concerns to the GLAA by email at contact@gla.gov.uk or by using the online reporting form.
Alternatively, call the Modern Slavery and Exploitation Helpline on 08000 121 700 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.
Thank you for taking the time to read our bulletin. If you'd like to contribute content about your work in preventing/identifying labour abuse, you can email communications@gla.gov.uk.