Don't claim we didn't act on gangmasters after Morecambe Bay
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Version 0 of 1. A decade on from that terrible night when 23 men and women lost their lives searching for cockles, Hsiao-Hung Pai questions whether a similar tragedy could occur (Remember Morecambe Bay? Nothing has changed, 4 February). However, her argument makes little reference to the many measures put in place since 2004. The Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA) regulates all businesses supplying temporary workers for gathering shellfish. Since we started operating in 2006, anyone providing workers to gather shellfish on a commercial scale must be licensed and operate within our stringent standards. No one can say with any certainty that a tragedy will never happen again but it is significantly more unlikely to reoccur today – and the beds of Morecambe Bay have been closed for commercial gathering for more than six years. Pai quotes an "industry source" who says: "There's the same number of unlicensed gangmasters as there is licensed, in the food-processing industry, for instance." But no evidence is provided to back this claim and this perception is incorrect. We currently have about 975 licence-holders, 810 of whom operate in food-processing. There may be some unlicensed businesses operating in the UK, but not that kind of volume – anything approaching those figures would definitely register on our radar. Pai also says: "It seems workers have little confidence in reporting abuse to the GLA: 'They don't seem to do much with the intelligence,' a source told me." I take great exception to this statement, as we rely on reports from workers, companies and members of the public about unlicensed or criminal activity. The reports feed into and fuel our intelligence-led approach to enforcement and result in inspections of labour providers. In recent months, reports of abuse have directly led to 14 arrests in Cambridgeshire in October, with three operators shut down and three men charged under the Gangmasters (Licensing) Act; an illegal Norfolk gangmaster being sentenced to seven years in prison in December; and two Slovakian brothers being jailed this month for 52 and 40 months respectively for trafficking and exploiting workers in Derby. Finally, Pai claims: "Having already cut back its staff, and with more job cuts expected, the GLA is struggling to carry on operating." To claim we are "struggling" when serious inroads are being made into dismantling organised crime groups is an unusual viewpoint. Doing more with less is an issue facing all organisations but no job cuts are expected. Instead we will continue to work with our many partners to protect vulnerable and exploited workers. |