- Consulting Association
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The Consulting Association was an organisation in the United Kingdom which maintained an illegal blacklist of construction workers who were active trade union members, or were otherwise vocal on matters such as health and safety in their industry.[1]
Its customer base consisted of over 40 construction companies who would supply details of existing or former employees deemed to have engaged in trade union or political activity. They could in turn enquire whether TCA had information about prospective employees. Customers would pay an annual £3000 subscription, and £2.20 for each enquiry.
TCA was based in Droitwich and was owned by Ian Kerr. Kerr has failed to deny Guardian newspaper reports in the early nineties that he had been an employee of the Economic League,[2] which had provided a similar blacklisting service until it ceased operation in 1993.
On February 23, 2009, the company's office was raided by the Office of the Information Commissioner, which served an enforcement notice[3] under the terms of the Data Protection Act. The ICO’s states its action followed an 28 June 2008 Guardian article, Enemy at the Gates.[1] The OIC disclosed that 3213 workers' details were held by the company.
Member organisations
The OIC press release included a list of over 40 construction companies who were current or previous users of TCA.
- AMEC (Amec Building Ltd, Amec Construction Ltd, Amec Facilities Ltd, Amec Ind Div, Amec Process & Energy Ltd),
- Amey Construction – Ex Member,
- B Sunley & Sons – Ex Member,
- Balfour Beatty,
- Balfour Kilpatrick,
- Ballast (Wiltshire) PLC – Ex Member,
- BAM Construction (HBC Construction), BAM Nuttall (Edmund Nutall Ltd),
- C B & I,
- Cleveland Bridge UK Ltd,
- Costain UK Ltd
- Crown House Technologies (Carillion/Tarmac Const),
- Diamond M & E Services,
- Dudley Bower & Co Ltd – Ex Member,
- Emcor (Drake & Scull) - ‘Ex Ref’, Emcor Rail,
- G Wimpey Ltd – Ex Member,
- Haden Young,
- Kier Ltd,
- John Mowlem Ltd - Ex Member,
- Laing O'Rourke (Laing Ltd),
- Lovell Construction (UK) Ltd – Ex Member,
- Miller Construction Limited – Ex Member,
- Morgan Ashurst, Morgan Est
- Morrison Construction Group - Ex Member,
- N G Bailey,
- Shepherd Engineering Services,
- Siac Building Services,
- Sir Robert McAlpine,
- Skanska (Kaverna/Trafalgar House Plc),
- SPIE (Matthew Hall) - Ex Member,
- Taylor Woodrow Construction Ltd – Ex Member,
- Turriff Construction Ltd – Ex Member,
- Tysons Contractors – Ex Member,
- Walter Llewellyn & Sons Ltd - Ex Member,
- Whessoe Oil & Gas Willmott Dixon – Ex Member,
- Vinci PLC (Norwest Holst Group)
Further measures
Ian Kerr was prosecuted for violating the Data Protection Act, 1998 by failing to register as a data controller. He pleaded guilty. Macclesfield Magistrates Court refused jurisdiction as it felt its maximum penalty was insufficient [4], and he was sentenced to a fine of £5,000 with £1,187.20 costs at Knutsford Crown Court in July 2009[5]. The ICO was unable to prosecute Kerr for sharing data without permission, as the Data Protection Act does not make it an offence[5].
The OIC announced that from March 16, 2009, a telephone enquiry service would be opened for people who suspected they may be listed on The Consulting Association's database. [6]
References
- ^ a b Office of the Information Commissioner press release dated 2009-03-06
- ^ Evans, Rob (2009-03-06). "'Do not touch' - the covert database that kept union activists out of work". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/mar/06/ian-kerr-data-protection. Retrieved 2009-03-07.
- ^ Enforcement notice against TCA
- ^ http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2009/06/03/236244/ICO-closes-down-illegal-blacklist-database.htm
- ^ a b http://www.ico.gov.uk/upload/documents/pressreleases/2009/kerr_sentencing_160709.pdf
- ^ http://www.ico.gov.uk/for_the_public/topic_specific_guides/consulting_association.aspx
Categories:- Construction and civil engineering companies of the United Kingdom
- Consulting firms
- Informal legal terms
- Trade unions
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