According to a report by MPs, major construction firms which set up a blacklist of workers, still appear to be avoiding responsibility for their actions.

The comments were made by the Scottish Affairs Committee in an interim report released today.

It added that it was "appalled" to discover thousands of construction workers were put on the list, and that in many cases, people had been included for raising legitimate concerns over health and safety issues.

The blacklist was drawn up by The Consulting Association (TCA), which was subsequently closed down in 2009 after being raided by the Information Commissioner's Office.

In its report, MPs said some of the biggest names in construction as well as many smaller firms had been involved.

It claimed: "The organisation set up to create, maintain and operate the blacklist - The Consulting Association (TCA) - appears to have been largely established by Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd, which also provided TCA's chairmen for eight of its 16 years of operation.

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"Other major subscribers included Skanska and Balfour Beatty."

MPs added that while the blacklist was not initially illegal, it was always "morally indefensible", and the companies involved continued to use it after it had been made illegal. They also discovered companies set up a structure through TCA which allowed them to submit names and information on workers they deemed to be "unsuitable" to a central list and to check prospective employees against that list.

They said: "The emphasis throughout was on secrecy, with telephone access to sensitive information restricted to only a few, with the lists of names submitted destroyed at the end of each working day and no acknowledgement that such a system existed."

Both Skanska and Balfour Beatty have acknowledged and apologised for their involvement in the blacklist operation, however, Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd responded to the report, saying: "In his evidence to the Scottish Affairs Committee, Mr Cullum McAlpine made it clear that neither he nor Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd was solely responsible for establishing or funding The Consulting Association."

It added: "Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd has never operated a 'blacklist'. We are, and have always been, wholly committed to maintaining good relationships with our workforce and to responsible trade unionism."

(JP/CD)