COMPANIES involved in blacklisting are to be banned from bidding for public contracts in a Scottish Government crackdown.
From April it will be a legal requirement for public bodies to exclude businesses involved in blacklisting under new Government regulations laid down in the Scottish Parliament yesterday.
It comes after it emerged construction companies had compiled a list of 3,000 workers, secretly banned because of their connections to unions.
Scottish ministers said blacklisting was unacceptable and had a serious impact on people’s lives.
The ban will remain in force until the business can prove it has taken measures to fix the problem or a period of three years has elapsed since the blacklisting occurred, which is the maximum timescale allowed under EU law.
The legal requirement to exclude companies replaces previous guidelines for public bodies which required companies seeking public sector contracts to disclose whether they have been involved in the practice.
Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure, Investment and Cities Keith Brown said: “We have always been clear that blacklisting in any form is unacceptable, and will not be tolerated, particularly given the serious impact it can have on the lives of those affected.
“It is important that companies who are awarded public contracts maintain high standards of business and professional conduct, and that is why we are introducing this legislation to crack down on the practice.
“Where we have control and the power to make changes, we have taken decisive action to strengthen the law, and this means that Scotland has taken greater steps to eradicate ‘blacklisting’ from public contracts than the rest of the UK.
“These changes will ensure that any company found to be involved in the practice will be excluded from bidding for public contracts.”
More than 600 construction workers whose names appeared on an an industry-wide blacklist are seeking damages which could total tens of millions of pounds.
In October, lawyers representing eight leading construction firms have submitted an “unprecedented” apology to the high court for anxiety and distress caused to the workers, unions said on Thursday. The defendants in the case include Balfour Beatty, Carillion, Costain, Kier, Laing O’Rourke, Sir Robert McAlpine, Skanska UK and VINCI.
The firms have admitted breaches of confidence and being part of an organisation that collected defamatory information against the workers, however, they are still contesting the effect that it has had on the blacklisted people.
The list, drawn up by the Consulting Association, was discovered in 2009 and contained over 3,200 names, many of whom claim they were denied work as a result of being included.
Unions Unite, GMB and Ucatt said the construction firms have apologised as part of a continuing legal claim in the high court.
Payments will vary but could be worth up to £250,000 in some cases, according to Unite.
The secret file of more than 3,200 mainly construction workers was uncovered after a raid by the Information Commissioner’s Office on the Consulting Association.
Workers were included on the blacklist for raising health and safety fears on building sites, or merely for being union activists, and were often denied work for years as a result.
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