Reports made to the GLAA since 2017

Freedom of Information Act request.

Ref: FOI 24-25 HE - 04

Date issued: 15 May 2024

Subject: Reports made to the GLAA since 2017

Question:

I would like to request a full breakdown of the reports made to the GLAA within each of the last seven years since the Agency was re-titled the GLAA in 2017. For clarity where a full year is not covered, this would include reports from 30 April 2017 until 31 December 2017 (inclusive) and reports from 1 January 2024 until 13 May 2024 (inclusive).

I do not intend to ask for any information which is not adequately anonymised, for either the individual reporting or organisation accused of wrongdoing. I would be interested, at a minimum, reports disaggregated under the following publicly available categories from your website:

• Breaches to our licensing standards in the (a) agricultural, (b) food processing and (c) packaging and (d) shellfish sectors
• Operating without a GLAA licence in the above sectors.
• Labour abuse, specifically where that abuse is related to forced and compulsory labour across all sectors in England and Wales.

While it is not clear from public statements how this is further disaggregated, I would be grateful where the data exists for a more granular breakdown of (a) sectors, (b) form of abuse reported – for instance, wage deduction, visa issues, dangerous conditions, (c) any more detailed description given by those reporting, (d) the relationship between the individual or group reporting and the accused employer – e.g. a worker complaining about their employer and (e) outcomes of reports.

I would also be grateful for a breakdown of reports that came to the GLAA in areas that were not in its jurisdiction, for instance where the report was better dealt with by HMRC’s National Minimum Wage Unit, EAS or another enforcement agency.

Response:

Our assessment is that the length of time to undertake this activity would exceed the cost thresholds set out under Section 12 of the FOIA, and therefore we are unable to provide an answer.

Under Section 16 obligations of the FOIA, to provide advice and assistance, we recommend reprioritising your request, this could be done, for example, shortening the timeframe of the information requested.