Clause 3 - Administration and enforcement
Gangmasters (Licensing) Bill
5:00 pm
Mr Alun Michael (Minister of State (Rural Affairs), Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Cardiff South and Penarth, Labour/Co-operative)
If I interpret the question correctly, yes, because the responsibility for the legislation, its use and the establishment of the agency is DEFRA's. We are setting up a Government agency, but we seek to share the development of the policy and the mechanisms with an industry that knows its own business. That is where we are trying to be intelligent in squaring the circle. We want to ensure that the agency and all that it does both have Government underpinning and authority, and that the licensing system is a legal requirement and is underpinned by the legislation. DEFRA takes responsibility for that.
What sometimes confuses people, for instance, is the fact that there will be a relationship between the licensing system, which creates a dividing line between the legitimate and the non-legitimate, and the work of Operation Gangmaster. The hon. Gentleman was a little dismissive of that work, but if he checks the newspaper cuttings from recent weeks he will see that there have been several serious successes and prosecutions. The activities involved in such operations go on throughout the country but remain invisible until people are arrested. Even then, there tends to be a bit of a delay until the cases come to court, so there is a tailback in terms of effectiveness. Nevertheless, I can assure him of Ministers' enthusiasm for such activities. Indeed, the support
and encouragement that I have received from Ministers in other Departments in relation to the Bill shows the will to make enforcement effective.