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Farming Today: Gangmasters Licencing Authority to be taken to court over alleged negligence

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17/01/2017

Gangmasters Licencing Authority to be taken to court over alleged negligence

BBC Radio 4 - Farming Today, Gangmasters Licencing Authority to be taken to court over alleged negligence

Gangmasters Licencing Authority to be sued for alleged 'negligence' by exploited workers.

The Gangmasters Licencing Authority is to be sued for alleged 'negligence' by a group of Lithuanian workers who say they suffered at the hands of a licenced employer.

The Gangmasters Licensing Authority is due to face legal action after it was accused of "negligence" and "breaching the Human Rights Act", by granting licences to a company described as one of the 'worst UK gangmasters ever'. The case is being brought by six Lithuanian men who worked for DJ Houghton Chicken Catching Services in Kent. The GLA found they were subjected to threats and physical violence, housed in overcrowded accommodation, and lived in a climate of fear.
In the first case of its kind in the UK they sued the firm last year and were awarded an out of court settlement. Now they're suing the GLA. Their lawyer, Shanta Martin - a partner at the law firm Leigh Day - says if the GLA had acted properly in the first place, the men wouldn't have suffered at the hands of the their employer.

Bus services for people in rural areas, which used to be subsidised by local councils, have been replaced by more expensive commercial routes, as councils struggle to cope with cutbacks to their funding. That's the conclusion of the first report by the community interest company, Rural England. It shows between 2011 and 2015 there was a reduction of 75 million miles provided by publically-funded buses outside London - and that loss was replaced by 45 million miles of private and community bus service routes. The report - which also looks at issues such as health, social care and education - aims to set a benchmark for what public services are available in rural areas.
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