Gangmasters Licensing Authority

Tuesday 10th September 2013 Written Statements

[The Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Mr David Heath)]

Today I am announcing a triennial review of the Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA). Triennial reviews of non-departmental public bodies are part of the Government’s commitment to ensuring accountability in public life.

The GLA was set up in 2005 to protect workers from exploitation. Since that time the organisation has been subject to a number of reviews, most recently through the employment theme of the Government’s red tape challenge process. Through previous reviews the Government have determined that the role of the GLA remains important and that operating as an NDPB is an appropriate structure for its delivery. This triennial review provides an opportunity to examine and confirm those conclusions where appropriate and to focus on ensuring that the governance arrangements of GLA are as effective as possible, in line with best practice for public bodies.

This review will be conducted in accordance with Government guidance for reviewing non-departmental public bodies. The review will be carried out in an open and transparent way and interested stakeholders will be given the opportunity to feed in their views. I will announce the findings of the review later in 2013-14.

Further information, including the terms of reference for the review, is available on the Government website.