Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what criteria are used by the Gangmasters Licensing Authority to establish whether a licence holder is high risk.

The Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA) have established Licensing Standards against which applicants and existing licence holders are assessed. They are all legal requirements to protect workers from poor treatment and exploitation and set out the conditions that must be met to obtain and hold a GLA licence.

The Standards are published on the GLA website at:-

http://www.gla.gov.uk/Guidance/Information-on-Licensing/Licencing-Standards/. They include treatment of workers, accommodation and working conditions among others. Any non-compliance with the Standards is treated very seriously and would bear on the risk a licence holder poses. In addition, the GLA receives intelligence from partner agencies, such as police forces, about businesses which would also be taken into account in assessing risk. The GLA can inspect businesses where there are concerns.