Tackling undeclared work database

  The creation of Joint Fashion Industry Teams (JoFITs) targeting the clothing and fashion industry was intended to facilitate greater cooperation across central government departments at the operational level. These area-based teams brought together civil servants from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and the Jobcentre Plus government agency to combat undeclared work in the clothing and fashion industry.  

  Gangmasters are labour providers in the agri-business industry supplying labour to agriculture, horticulture, shellfish gathering and related produce, packaging and processing industries. It became apparent that the activities of certain gangmasters were causing considerable harm both in terms of worker exploitation and lost revenue for the Exchequer. Therefore, in 2005, the Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA) was set up, and as a result, from 1 October 2006, it became an offence for gangmasters to operate without a licence.  

The Hartlepool ‘informal to formal’ pilot project aimed to ‘offer’ local undeclared workers a chance to reintegrate themselves into the formal economy with no threat of prosecution. The level of uptake of the ‘offer’ was minimal however. This poor level of impact is likely to be attributable to low levels of trust in public authorities and the limited publicity that the scheme received locally.

  Street UK is a non-profit organisation specialising in the provision of a range of financial services for those who cannot access mainstream credit and banking services. These services include not only the provision of loans but also of business advice and support, enabling micro-enterprises and self-employed people to make the transition from undeclared work into the declared economy.