‘If you want to abuse your workers, that’s fine’: UK modern slavery watchdog’s funding cut

A Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority agent makes an arrest in December 2021 of a husband and wife suspected of exploiting vulnerable students and supplying them to care homes in north Wales. Photograph: GLAA

Britain’s labour abuse watchdog has had its funding cut by the Home Office despite a dramatic surge in exploitation in the care sector.

The budget of the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) has been set at £6.25m for 2024-25 compared with £7.7m last year, official figures show.