Move to halt migrant worker exploitation

Published on Tuesday 19 August 2008 21:35

A COUNCIL in Scotland's fruit-harvesting heartland yesterday became the first in the country to introduce a set of basic accommodation standards to prevent the exploitation of migrant workers.

Earlier this year, Angus Council was granted powers by the Scottish Government to inspect temporary accommodation being used to house migrant agricultural workers in its area.

Until then, caravan sites being used for seasonal workers did not need a site licence or planning consent. But Angus successfully called for the licensing exemption to be lifted following the death in 2007 of Petr Adamnik, a Czech farm labourer, in a caravan fire at Birkhill Farm, near Arbroath.

Yesterday, the council's civic licensing committee agreed to create new basic standards that all landlords providing temporary accommodation for migrant workers will have to meet. The rules will cover caravans and portable accommodation on agricultural land all over Angus.

Councillor David Fairweather, the vice-convener of the civic licensing committee, said: "Our purpose in getting this outdated exemption lifted was to ensure that the same baseline standard is applied to all caravan sites in Angus, so everyone has the same degree of protection, in terms of health and safety."

Last October, after Mr Adamnik's death, council officials inspected 21 sites accommodating some 1,800 migrant workers. The survey revealed that many were being forced to live in potentially dangerous and unsanitary conditions and that none of the sites met all of the guidelines produced by the Gangmasters Licensing Authority.

Officials discovered one small steading had been converted into four units housing 42 migrants, while at another site a disused chicken shed was being used as a communal lounge for up to 160 workers.

Mr Fairweather stressed most farmers in the area had already taken significant steps to improve workers' accommodation. He said: "What these new standards would do is make it clear to accommodation providers exactly what standard they now must achieve to get a licence.

"It would also demonstrate to our migrant workforce that we have taken all measures available to us to ensure their living accommodation is of an acceptable standard."

The new standards are drawn from the legislation governing caravan site licensing, houses of multiple occupancy and building regulations. They set out a variety of requirements, including maximum occupancy levels; the minimum space required per person; the number of toilets, sinks and cookers per group of workers; the type and quantity of heating appliances to be provided; and various other rules on the likes of laundry facilities, refuse collection and site lighting.

Colin McMahon, the director of corporate services, said: "The legislation governing the type of accommodation being provided is, in some instances, out of date and inconsistent, and the type of accommodation being provided does not sit comfortably with any of the existing areas of regulation."