Gangmasters authority to launch anti-slavery course

The GLA said the course would provide delegates with the "knowledge, skills and confidence to identify exploitative practice"

The Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA) is launching its first-ever accredited training scheme.

It is part of attempts to protect workers from exploitation in the UK's supply chains.

The GLA said organised crime groups have identified labour supply as an area where workers are exploited.

"The only way to tackle this is to work alongside business and ensure risks can be identified", it said.

The authority has developed a training programme alongside the University of Derby, which will be run from its offices in Nottingham.

The GLA said the course would provide delegates with the "knowledge, skills and confidence to identify exploitative practice".

Chief executive Paul Broadbent said: "Our accredited training programme will give businesses some of the tools to tackle exploitative practice.

"It will also make a significant impact in dealing with criminality so as to protect vulnerable and exploited workers."

The two-day sessions will start on 30 November.

The role of the Gangmasters Licensing Authority

The GLA is a public body operating throughout the UK

• It was formed in 2005 in the wake of the Morecambe Bay cockle picking disaster when 23 Chinese workers drowned on the sands

• The GLA licences companies that supply labour for agriculture, horticulture, shellfish gathering - as well as all associated processing and packaging.

• Its main strategic priorities are to prevent worker exploitation, protect vulnerable people and tackle unlicensed and criminal activity

• Under the Gangmasters (Licensing) Act (2004) it is illegal both to operate as, or employ the services of, an unlicensed gangmaster