Partnership Bulletin - September 2025
GLAA Q1 performance
During the first quarter of 2025/26, the GLAA made strong progress against the 2025-26 business plan key performance indicators. While this represents only the initial quarter of the reporting year, there are several encouraging developments worth highlighting:
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Application decision timeliness - the average time taken to reach a decision on licence applications was 24 working days—significantly outperforming our target of 50 working days.
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Increase in the volume of investigations targeting unlicenced gangmasters - a total of 41 investigations into unlicensed gangmasters (under Sections 12 and 13) have been initiated year-to-date. This represents a substantial increase compared to the previous year and places us on track to meet our annual target of 65 investigations. Importantly, this increase has not come at the expense of modern slavery investigations, which have remained consistent.
MoU signed with Uzbekistan to further protect workers’ right in the UK
The Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Migration Agency under the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan, to protect the rights of citizens of the Republic of Uzbekistan who come to do agricultural work in the UK. 18/09/2025 MoU signed with Uzbekistan to further protect workers’ right in the UK - GLAA
This is the third MoU signed this year. If you missed any of the others you can read more about them via the links below.
Regulation update
Recruitment businesses
We have recently seen an influx of reports about businesses who operate as recruitment businesses who are not licensed. The legislation is clear that any individual or business needs a licence if they supply a worker to a labour user to undertake work covered by licensing. We take supply to have a wide meaning which includes activities such as introducing a worker, sourcing candidates, screening applications and reviewing CV’s. It doesn’t matter if the final decision is made by the end client to employ the worker.
This would include roles covered by licensing which are considered agricultural work such as:
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Working with livestock
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Dairy farming
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Growing and harvesting crops
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Growing and harvesting nonedible crops such as plants and bulbs
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Horticulture
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Land use
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Rearing non-traditional animals and insects
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Agricultural mechanics employed directly by the farmer
Sourcing people to work in food processing and packing would also be covered by licensing. Guidance on which activities would be considered to be licensable is contained in: Guidance on who needs a licence
If you or any business in your supply chain is carrying out these types of activity, then they should contact the GLAA email: Contact@gla.gov.uk or by telephone 0345 602 5020 and seek clarification as to whether they need a licence. It is a criminal offence to supply workers without a licence.
Right to work checks
Join our next online meeting for stakeholders and partners
Once a quarter, we invite stakeholders from various backgrounds to come and listen to what the GLAA is seeing within the labour market and the regulatory framework and how together we can make changes and improvements to stop worker exploitation.
You could be a GLAA licence holder, supplying workers within our regulated sector. Or, you might be one of their clients, a labour user, who employs workers as part of your day-to-day business operations.
We also welcome those from connected trade associations, unions, NGOs and retailers as well as anyone else connected with the UK’s fresh produce supply chain.
Our next meeting will be on Tuesday 7 October 2025 at 11.00am. To be added to the Stakeholder meeting mailing list or to suggest topics for future meetings, simply email us at communications@gla.gov.uk. Invitations to this meeting will be sent out in due course.
News
HMRC Counter Fraud Partnership 
Earlier this month our CEO Elysia McCaffrey shared an update about our HMRC Counter Fraud Partnership. She also signed a new partnership agreement with HMRC. You can read about this partnership in her stakeholder blog.
GLAA Business Plan 2025-26
The third and final business plan of our 2023-26 strategy was signed off by the Minister in July. The 2024/25 business year was our best performing year in which we:
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increased the volume of inspections by 121%
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increased the number of referrals by 24%
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increased enforcement cases by 10%
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reduced new licensing decision times by 70%
Educational video launched to support international care workers
A new educational video was launched in July (see right) informing international care workers in the UK about their rights and it is now available on the Just Good Work app.
The video was produced in collaboration between the GLAA and the charity Justice and Care. It provides essential guidance on what care workers should expect when working in the UK care sector.
Justice and Care would appreciate your feedback to assess understanding of those who have or have not watched the care worker video. Follow the link to complete the survey.
Read more in our news section.
Contact us
You can report your concerns to the GLAA by email at contact@gla.gov.uk or by using the online reporting form.
Alternatively, call the Modern Slavery and Exploitation Helpline on 0800 0121 700 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.