A Romanian man who enslaved up to 15 men, offering demolition work and then using violence to trap them, has been jailed for seven years.

David Lupu, 29, promised the men £50 per day as well as accommodation, but instead paid them just a fraction of the wage, housed them in cramped conditions and confiscated their ID papers.

Metropolitan Police detectives began an investigation – supported by CITB’s Fraud Team – in September last year, after two Romanian men reported to Forest Gate police that they had been treated like slaves after coming to work in the UK.

On 23 March at Inner London Crown Court, David Lupu was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment after being convicted of multiple offences of holding a person in slavery or servitude.

During the trial, seven Romanian men said they had been offered jobs in July last year, but after travelling to the UK, were expected to live in a small one bedroom flat in Leyton, east London. Up to 15 men slept wherever they could in the kitchen, bedroom, hallway and storage cupboard, on mattresses found in the street.

Victims said they were only allowed out of the house two at a time, and warned that they would be arrested if discovered.

They were told that they owed Lupu hundreds of pounds and were forced to work long hours in the demolition sector in order to repay the costs. Meanwhile, Lupu was paid a significant wage by the building site’s employers for the men’s labour.

When the men discovered their wages from the building site had not been passed on by Lupu, they confronted him, only to be beaten and threatened to be killed if they insisted on being paid before they had paid their ‘debts’.

Ian Sidney, CITB’s Fraud Investigator who assisted the Met Police investigation, says: “Modern slavery is a horrific injustice that unfortunately is becoming more commonplace in the UK’s construction industry. Forcing people to work illegally not only deprives people of their human rights, it also harms the reputation of the industry, puts employers at risk, drives down wages and denies employment opportunities to many others.

“CITB has been working with industry, implementing measures to ensure that modern slavery is eradicated from the UK construction industry. We will also continue working with law enforcement agencies to bring offenders to justice.”

Some of the UK’s biggest building companies have signed up to take part in the country’s largest construction health & safety stand down.

Wates, McLaren and Seddon are among new faces that will take part in Stop. Make a Change in 2018.

The initiative was launched in 2017 to bring the industry together to improve health and safety performance. In its first year more than 60,000 people took part in stand down events.

Last year Stop. Make a Change focussed solely on the infrastructure sector. However, for 2018 this has expanded out to cover the wider construction sector.

Across two weeks from 16 April, there will be stand downs on sites and in offices across the UK, targeting two priority areas: mental health and plant safety.

As well as big builders, two of the industry’s leading charities are also backing to Stop. Make a Change, and will be supporting companies in relation to the mental health priority.

The Lighthouse Club oversees the Construction Industry Helpline and has worked with the Civil Engineering Contractors Association, which manages Stop. Make a Change, to provide thousands of cards and posters that will be distributed to workers. The cards provide details of the helpline, which provides support on mental health & wellbeing, as well as advice on financial, legal, tax and debt management.

Meanwhile construction mental health charity Mates in Mind will provide free ‘Manage the Conversation’ training courses for managers. The courses will run on 24 April in London, Birmingham, Bristol and Newcastle.

Bill Hill, CEO of the Lighthouse Construction Industry Charity said: “CECA are encouraging everyone that participates in Stop. Make a Change to make sure they have one of our helpline packs. The packs include posters for sites and offices and helpline cards that can be distributed to their workforce so that workers know where to turn to if they need support. Our helpline provides a free of charge, confidential 24/7 helpline safety net for all construction workers and their families in the UK and Ireland”.

Steve Hails, chair of Mates in Mind said: “In workplaces across the UK, managers and supervisors are increasingly being approached by workers who are suffering with poor mental health. For many managers, this is a challenging prospect and they may be nervous about how to handle such a conversation. We are proud to support Stop. Make a Change, and to work with CECA to offer training for managers to be more confident in these situations”

www.stopmakeachange.co.uk

Snowy weather, rising costs and uncertainty relating to Brexit are to blame for the sharp drop in construction output, the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) has said in response to the latest PMI data.

The March 2018 PMI data revealed a fall from 51.4 in February to 47.0 in March, against the neutral reading of 50.0. March 2018’s figure was weaker than the average 52.3 of 2017.

Commenting on the results, Brian Berry, Chief Executive of the FMB, said: “The latest PMI data shows the fastest drop in construction activity since July 2016.

The unusually cold and snowy weather experienced across the UK last month is partly to blame for this set-back. The cold snap impacted on a broad array of construction projects, including house building, domestic refurbishment and large civil engineering projects.

Many small builders across the country were forced to close sites for more than a week and some employers reported that it was too cold to lay bricks.”

Berry continued: “Alongside the snow, the cost of doing business is rising for the UK’s construction firms. Wages and salaries are all rocketing because of the ever-worsening skills shortages in construction.

What’s more, material prices have been rising steadily since the depreciation of sterling following the EU referendum. Increased prices for metals and insulation, in particular, were noted in March.

We expect material prices to continue to cause a headache for the construction industry with recent research from the FMB showing that 87% of builders believe that material prices will rise in the next six months.”

Berry concluded: “More broadly, the future is still looking incredibly uncertain for the UK construction sector.

We still don’t know what the post-Brexit immigration system will look like and given that businesses need to plan ahead, this could also be putting a brake on growth in the construction sector.

This is especially the case for construction – our sector is heavily reliant on EU tradespeople with more than 8% of construction workers hailing from the EU.

In London, this rises to one third. The Government must take stock of today’s results and redouble its efforts to provide post-Brexit clarity to businesses.

We need to know what we can expect from the new immigration system – we need to know what will replace free movement of people.”