Gangmaster investigation ongoing
Police have dismissed rumours that no charges will be brought against two people arrested following an investigation into chicken catching operations.
Kent Police arrested a 52-year-old man and a 50-year-old woman from the Maidstone area last autumn following a joint operation by the police, the Gangmaster Licensing Authority (GLA) and the UK Human Trafficking Centre (UKHTC). At the time of the arrests police said it was alleged that Lithuanian workers had been forced to live in squalid conditions and threatened with violence if they did not comply with their supervisor’s instructions. They said that a total of 32 people had been identified as potential victims of human trafficking as a result of the operation.
The GLA subsequently announced that it had revoked the licence of D J Houghton Catching Services Limited, a Freedom Food member that used gangs of workers to catch chickens at farms across the UK. It said the GLA’s investigation found that workers suffered exploitation so extreme that the authority had to order the firm to stop supplying workers to farms and food factories immediately.
The GLA said exploitation had been uncovered at locations around Kent. Workers were subjected to threats and physical violence, were housed in overcrowded accommodation and lived in a climate of fear, it said. The workers were also charged excessive job finding fees, had pay stopped for the most spurious reasons and had to work without proper health and safety equipment, said the GLA. The authority said that D J Houghton Catching Services Limited had breached so many licence conditions that continued operation would have been totally unacceptable.
Little more has been heard since the arrests were made, but rumours recently began to circulate that legal authorities had decided against pressing charges. However, Kent Police insisted that this was not the case. A spokeswoman told the Ranger that bail had now lapsed for the two people arrested but this did not mean that charges would not be pursued.
"We remain in consultation with the Crown Prosecution Service in relation to this case and no final decisions have been made," she said. The police also revealed that they were still searching for another person in connection with the investigation. "One man remains wanted on warrant in connection with the investigation," said the spokeswoman, although she declined to provide a name or description of the man they were seeking.
Following the arrests and the decision by the GLA to strip Houghton's of its licence, the RSPCA issued a statement to say that it was the "direct responsibility" of any Freedom Food member to ensure that they and their staff adhered to the required RSPCA animal welfare standards. If this was found not to be the case through the scheme's monitoring of adherence to the standards, then a member could be removed from the scheme, it said.
"Where the member does anything which would bring Freedom Food or the RSPCA into disrepute then the membership agreement makes provision for suspending or cancelling a business's membership of the Freedom Food scheme. In line with the scheme rules, DJ Houghton Catching Services have been suspended from the scheme as of October 30 2012, pending the outcome of legal proceedings that are currently ongoing. Should these shocking allegations regarding workers at the site prove to be true, then the business’s membership of Freedom Food will be withdrawn."
It was reported that the catching teams involved in the investigation worked on farms supplying eggs to McDonald's, Tesco, Asda, Marks & Spencer and Sainsbury's. They also reportedly worked on farms supplying Noble's Happy Egg brand.
A spokesman for Tesco said at the time, "As a founder member of the Ethical Trading Initiative, we are committed to decent working conditions on all the farms and factories in our supply chain. These allegations are clearly shocking. We are pleased that our supplier, Noble Foods, took action as soon as they became aware of the issue, and we will continue to work closely with the GLA, our suppliers and others to ensure good practice throughout the sector."
Ian Livsey, former chief executive of the Gangmaster Licensing Authority said at the time, “We are determined to drive out those ruthless people who abuse and exploit vulnerable workers. Working with our partner agencies, we have cracked down on potential exploitation in the food supply chain. There is no hiding place for those who exploit the vulnerable, and neither we nor our partner law enforcement agencies will tolerate abuse of the vulnerable worker.” The GLA is the body that regulates businesses that provide workers to the fresh produce supply chain and horticulture industry. Its job is to ensure that these businesses meet the employment standards required by law.
After news of the arrests emerged, the National Farmers' Union urged farmers to beware. In advice provided through NFU Poultry Board members, the NFU's chief poultry advisor, Kelly Watson, said farmers should regularly check that any labour providers they were using, or were proposing to use, were licensed by the GLA. She said the GLA expected a high level of due diligence from labour users, who should know the names of the agency workers supplied to their business and talk to workers individually to ensure that they were well treated and were receiving the appropriate minimum wage and holiday entitlement.
