Rogue gangmasters are supplying migrant workers to look after the elderly in care homes in an attempt to avoid controls on the provision of labourers to farms and packing warehouses, according to trade unions and MPs.

Cowboy operators are also providing foreign labour for construction sites and the cleaning industry, and overseas waiting and cleaning staff for hotels and restaurants.

Two years after the creation of the Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA), which regulates all labour provision in the fresh food and farming sector, trade unions are gathering evidence that a number of unscrupulous gangmasters have moved into new sectors rather than comply with the law.

The authority was set up after the outcry over the deaths of 23 Chinese cockle-pickers at Morecambe Bay in February 2004 and concerns that gangmasters were unfairly treating migrants employed as pickers and packers of fresh produce. Now some ministers and MPs believe that its remit should be extended to regulate the provision of labour to care homes, the construction and hospitality industry.

There is concern about the alleged abuse of workers forced to pay out unreasonable amounts for accommodation, transport to work and even uniform from their pay. But there are also worries over health and safety.

Although the Government wants to welcome skilled workers from other countries, there is concern that some migrant workers charged with looking after the elderly may not be qualified to do so and that lives could be endangered. There is also concern about their proficiency in English and their ability to communicate with residents.

In the construction industry there is also concern that “electricians” are being employed who have not previously wired a building.

Jim Sheridan, Labour MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire North, who introduced the original legislation to regulate gangmasters, has tabled a new Bill to extend the remit of the authority. He said: “We believe the GLA’s remit could be rolled out universally sector by sector. There really are important health and safety issues here. We don’t want workers to be abused or intimidated, but we don’t want them in skilled jobs either if they are not qualified.”

The authority also believes that gangmasters are moving into new sectors to avoid its robust controls and enforcement. Any unlicensed gangmaster providing labour to farms faces a ten-year prison sentence, while the owner of a firm employing staff from an unlicensed operator can face six months in prison. Gangmasters must also comply with the law on deducting tax and national insurance contributions and paying staff adequate wages with benefits such as holiday pay.

Mike Wilson, chief executive of the GLA, told The Times he believed that 30 gangmasters had moved from fresh food to other sectors. “There have been firms where we have revoked licences for noncompliance and, for whatever reason, they have not appealed and have disappeared from our radar,” he said.

“We understand they are still in the labour business but have moved into other fields such as the care industry, cleaning industry and construction.”

Workers’ charges

£1,000 fee paid to overseas agents and one-way plane ticket

£400 over three months – a bond paid out of weekly wages if worker is still employed by gangmaster after 12 weeks

£100 administration charge for filling in a tax reclaim form

£100 a week for transport even if it is not used

£25 fee to take worker to a GP or dentist

£15 charge made for gangmaster to open bank account

£15 cost for arranging national insurance application

£10 administration charge for assisting with Worker Registration Scheme

£100 weekly accommodation fee

Source: Gangmasters Licensing Authority

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