The number of GLA board members has been slashed from 29 to nine, to allow it to be more flexible and to better adapt to the changing circumstances that it faces.
The move was announced by Karen Bradley, home office minister for modern slavery and organised crime, at a meeting where she also confirmed that current chair Margaret Beels has been re-appointed to the post for a further two years, ensuring she will oversee reforms of GLA governance.
“Strong and effective engagement with the sectors that the GLA regulates remains important and will be ensured through improved advisory groups reporting to the main board, building on the current system of sector liaison groups. I therefore commend the regulations to the committee,” said Bradley.
She added that the aim was to create a board that had the best skills and expertise in the sectors being regulated, with commercial, financial and legal experience – plus knowledge in the regulation of comparable sectors.
The minister also said she was pleased that Beels had agreed to extend her term at the GLA as it would enable her to see through board reforms.
Beels said: “Although the new board will be smaller, we will put in arrangements to ensure that the voices of all our stakeholders, whose support we greatly value, continue to be heard.
“The GLA’s expertise in identifying labour exploitation is, sadly, being called upon more and more. As part of the home office, we continue to regulate labour provision through the operation of the GLA’s rigorous licensing scheme and will now be able to work ever more closely with those who are concerned about the appalling crimes inflicted on vulnerable workers in the UK.
“I am therefore very pleased to have been re-appointed to act as chair for the next two years and, working with the new GLA board, to be given an opportunity to continue to support the excellent work of the authority.
GLA chief executive Paul Broadbent welcomed the announcements. “I am delighted with the reappointment of Margaret Beels as the chair of the GLA as she provides the continuity of leadership and strategic direction that is so vital in addressing labour exploitation,” he said.
“I’m also pleased that parliament has approved the plans for GLA board reform, which will streamline the governance of the GLA and improve its effectiveness and its ability to react and adapt appropriately.”
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