<
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/30/uk-modern-slavery-watchdog-funding-cut>
"Britain’s labour abuse watchdog has had its funding cut by the Home Office
despite a dramatic surge in exploitation in the care sector.
The budget of the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) has been set at
£6.25m for 2024-25 compared with £7.7m last year, official figures show.
It means the agency’s budget has fallen by almost £2m in real terms compared
with five years ago, once inflation is factored in.
The reduction comes amid what charities have called a “national scandal” in
adult social care, with modern slavery helplines recording a surge in calls and
the GLAA itself seeing a 400% rise in allegations since the launch of a
post-Brexit scheme to recruit care workers from abroad.
In a damning report published last week, David Neal, the former chief inspector
of borders and immigration, said visa caseworkers were now identifying cases of
modern slavery “on a daily basis” and accused the Home Office of “totally
inadequate” measures to mitigate exploitation risks before introducing the
scheme in 2022.
The Care Quality Commission warned MPs in December that modern slavery was now
“a feature” of the UK’s social care market.
Adis Sehic of the charity Work Rights Centre accused the government of
“actively deprioritising” tackling modern slavery by cutting the GLAA’s
funding, while at the same time “pouring billions into immigration
enforcement”, such as through the Rwanda scheme.
“The government is sending a message that if you’re an employer and you want to
abuse your workers, that’s fine. That’s not a priority,” he said."
Via Susan ****
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
