Criminal gangs now target care homes and restaurants
Illegal gangmasters are expanding into new industries such as care homes, construction and the restaurant trade to take advantage of a loophole in the law.
The Scottish head of the Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA) has revealed that the drive to remove exploitation in problem areas such as agriculture has pushed unscrupulous gangmasters into new sectors because they are unlicensed across the UK.
It raises the spectre of Triads and other criminal gangs exploiting workers to the point of causing a tragedy on the scale of the disastrous events in Morecambe Bay where 23 Chinese cocklepickers drowned.
Ian Japp, the head of enforcement for the body in Scotland and the north of England, has called for the law to be extended to regulate other areas in order to protect workers.
He also told the Equal Opportunities Committee (EOC) of the Scottish Parliament, which is gathering evidence for its inquiry into migration and trafficking, that there was a huge anomaly in the fact that the authority could arrest people south but not north of the Border.
“In my personal experience I have seen that, where we have been tackling gangmasters and found them not adhering to our standards, they have moved into other sectors,” he said.
“We are ultimately displacing gangmasters from a sector now being policed and moving them into areas with a lot less policing and where they don’t have to be licensed and face much less vigorous controls.”
He added: “There is opportunity within this for people to be involved in serious organised crime because so much ready money is passing through their hands. This is my personal opinion, but it is extremely frustrating that illegal gangmasters can stop working in agriculture and move into another area for which we don’t have legislation. I would be looking to regulate the care sector and service industry.”
A recent report by Oxfam found evidence that gangmasters who had their licences revoked were moving to less-regulated sectors such as care, construction and hospitality.
The GLA, created after the 2004 Morecambe Bay tragedy, enforces a licensing scheme for the UK’s estimated 1000 to 4000 gangmasters but only covers agriculture, shellfish gathering, food and drink processing, and forestry. Since October 2006, those supplying workers to employers in these sectors have had to obtain a licence.
Japp told the EOC: “I had hoped that by this time the powers of the authority would have been extended to cover care homes, construction and hospitality and areas outwith agriculture. I do think it could be extended. It is just whether there is the will and the money to do so.”
Referring to the differing powers of arrest in Scotland and England, he said: “I can definitely say there are instances where I would like to have had the same powers in Scotland.
“If I am dealing with an unlicensed gangmaster who is a foreign national, they could abscond because I can’t get them into custody. It hasn’t happened yet, but in the past four years we have been adopting a soft approach.”
Hugh O’Donnell, a LibDem MSP and member of the EOC, said: “This is clearly an anomaly and it is incumbent on the Scottish Government to lay the necessary orders to ensure workers in Scotland have the same protection and that the enforcement authorities have the same rights and powers across the UK.”
Gordon Meldrum, director-general of the Scottish Crime and Drugs Enforcement Agency, said: “It is well-known by law enforcement that those involved in serious organised crime will exploit any and every opportunity to further their power and profit.”
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “We consider the current system to be robust in safeguarding the interests of workers in Scotland. Any problems with the current arrangements should be raised with Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Scottish Government. No representations have been made.”
