GLA Information

If you provide or use labour you need to apply for a licence. The sectors that are being licensed are:
agriculture, including:

• horticulture
• commercial forestry work
• dairy farming
• the production of consumable produce (whether carried out for profit or not)
• the raising of animals that will enter the food chain
• the use of land as grazing, meadow or pasture land

processing and packaging of:

• any product containing an agricultural component (this includes fresh and processed products, this does not include non food items e.g. cosmetics)
• any drink that contains an agricultural component (e.g. sugar, hops, fruit etc.)
• any animal product that will enter the food chain
• shellfish, fish or products derived from shellfish or fish
• plants, flowers, bulbs etc.
• pet and animal feed

gathering shellfish (from 1 October 2006)

If you provide labour within the agriculture, horticulture and processing and packaging sectors, including fish, it will be an offence to:

• operate as a Gangmaster without a licence from 1 October 2006
• use an unlicensed Gangmaster from 1 December 2006

If you operate within the shellfish industry, these offences will commence from 6 April 2007. The maximum penalty for operating without a licence is a prison sentence of 10 years and a fine. The maximum penalty for using workers or services by an unlicensed Gangmaster is a prison sentence of 51 weeks and a fine.

A Labour Provider would also commit an offence if they held:

• a relevant document that is known or believed to be false
• a relevant document obtained by deception and known or believed to have been so obtained
• a relevant document that relates to someone else with the intention of causing a third party to believe that the person in possession of the documentation or another person is a licensed Gangmaster.

It will also be an offence to obstruct a GLA officer in the course of their duties.

The GLA will be working closely with a range of Government Departments and the Police to ensure that all legal requirements are met and enforced in the licensable sectors.

You can apply for a GLA licence from 6 April 2006. There are two ways to apply - You can either complete the online application form or telephone on 0845 602 5020. Information prepared from LGA website: http://www.gla.gov.uk