Paul Blomfield – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Blomfield on 2016-09-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department consulted workers’ representatives and groups representing victims of labour exploitation during the appointment process for the Director of Labour Market Enforcement.

Margot James

The appointment of the Director of Labour Market Enforcement is being made through a formal recruitment process. A campaign was jointly launched by the Department for Business, Energy and Industry Strategy (BEIS) and the Home Office in June after the Immigration Act received Royal Assent in May 2016. Shortlisting took place during the summer and interviews are scheduled for early October.

My Rt hon Friends the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and the Home Department plan to meet appointable candidates following interviews, and will have discussions before making a joint decision. The successful candidate will be announced as soon as practicably possible.

BEIS and the Home Office are working together to implement a Labour market Enforcement programme. This followed a formal consultation, Tackling Exploitation in the Labour Market, to which groups representing workers and victims of labour market exploitation responded.