Modern Slavery Act 2015 Committee Report

Baroness O'Grady of Upper Holloway Excerpts

Friday 28th March 2025 Lords Chamber

Moved by

[Baroness O'Grady of Upper Holloway]

To move that this House takes note of the Report from the Modern Slavery Act 2015 Committee The Modern Slavery Act 2015: becoming world-leading again (HL Paper 8).

[Baroness O'Grady of Upper Holloway (Lab)]

My Lords, I am pleased to introduce this debate on our report. On behalf of the committee, I begin with a sincere expression of appreciation: to everyone who provided evidence; to our brilliant staff team led by Sabrina Asghar; and to our expert adviser Caroline Haughey KC, a pioneer in the successful prosecution of modern slavery criminals. It is also right to recognise that a step change in victims’ rights was achieved only because of the determination of the then Home Secretary, now the noble Baroness, Lady May, who sponsored the Modern Slavery Act 2015. At the time, this was truly world-leading legislation.

I thank my fellow committee members for their hard work, diligence and dedication. Our deliberations were sometimes challenging, not to say robust, but always, I hope, conducted in good spirit. Special mention should be made of the noble and learned Lord, Lord Hope, who is unable to participate today, who made the original proposal to establish our committee, and that it should examine whether the Act is still fit for purpose. Last, but certainly not least, I pay tribute to the modern slavery survivors who spoke to our committee and provided feedback on our report. In future, we must go further to ensure that survivors are at the heart of policy-making, not just giving testimony but shaping strategy.

In my contribution, I want to highlight three areas of our report: first, immigration legislation. Our committee concluded that immigration legislation introduced by the last Government had served to undermine support and protection for victims, including the non-punishment principle that was enshrined in the Modern Slavery Act. This has had real-world consequences: making victims more vulnerable, which can only embolden the criminals who exploit them.

We were disturbed by the then Ministers’ attempts to justify this with the unfounded suggestion that the modern slavery system was being gamed. Second-hand anecdotes are never a substitute for hard data. On examination, our committee found no evidence to back up such claims. Can the Minister confirm today that those provisions contained in the Illegal Migration Act 2023 and the Nationality and Borders Act 2022 which weaken modern slavery victims’ rights will be repealed?

In addition, victims are often traumatised and may be reluctant to engage with the authorities. Our committee recommended that the Government set a goal to guarantee every victim a trained and accredited advocate or navigator to support them through the system. It is very welcome that the Government want to expand this scheme, but can the Minister tell us by how much and how fast?

Moreover, the harsh reality is that an employer who sponsors visas still holds the whip hand. What incentive does a worker have to report exploitation when an employer can simply withdraw sponsorship, putting them at risk of destitution and deportation? Sixty days to find another employer sponsor in the same sector means little if the worker has no home, no money and no power.

In contrast, the Australian Government have recently introduced a workplace justice visa, which, in cases of where there is evidence of exploitation, frees the victim from dependence on a bad employer and supports their right to work in any sector. Have the Government made progress in considering such a scheme in the UK?

My second area of focus concerns the care sector. Modern slavery in the UK takes place in many—sometimes overlapping—forms. For example, as we recently saw in the shocking case of modern slavery at a branch of the multinational fast food chain, McDonald’s, labour exploitation can soon lead to sexual exploitation. While the picture of modern slavery is constantly evolving, prevention, regulation and enforcement have not kept pace.

Following an alarming spike in media exposure by investigative journalists, drawing on the great work of NGOs and trade unions, our committee decided to take an in-depth look at modern slavery in the care sector. We found that, in the rush to issue visas to tackle the care recruitment shortage in 2022, the then Government failed to put in place basic controls that could have prevented modern slavery. Does the Minister agree with our committee that organisations should not only register with but be inspected by the Care Quality Commission before they are allowed to sponsor overseas care workers to work in the UK? Does he also agree that, to deter phoenix companies, sponsoring organisations should also be subject to a minimum period of operation first?

Our committee heard evidence of a “continuum of exploitation” that starts with weak union organisation, low pay and insecurity, and runs through to no pay, confiscation of passports and modern slavery. The Government’s promised fair pay agreement to raise labour standards in the care sector offers a real opportunity to disrupt that continuum. When responding to our report’s recommendations for a single enforcement body, the Government promised that the fair work agency

“will be adequately resourced, with powers to proactively investigate and enforce compliance”.

That is welcome, but the Minister will be aware that the current number of labour market inspectors in the UK falls woefully short of the ILO’s recommended minimum standards, leaving us ranked 27th out of 33 OECD countries for labour market inspection. Although I am sure that many would accept that the ILO benchmark cannot be met overnight, can the Minister commit to setting targets for increasing the size of the labour inspectorate and publishing progress towards those targets?

Since our report was published, the Employment Rights Bill has proposed access for trade unions to the workplace so that they can organise and so that extreme exploitation is more likely to be deterred or exposed, tilting the current imbalance of power back towards staff. Can the Minister confirm that that will include care establishments?

My final point is about supply chains. Our committee was concerned to stress that the Department for Business and Trade must rise to its responsibility to help stamp out modern slavery at home and abroad. The Government’s commitment to build on and improve the modern slavery statement registry is welcome. Can the Minister tell us by when that will happen? Will it include revising thresholds for modern slavery reporting, given that most care providers fall well below the current threshold? Can he also reassure us that the promised review of sanctions for non-compliance with reporting rules will deliver penalties tough enough to make a difference and provide proper compensation for those who have suffered slavery?

Moreover, while greater transparency and consistency of reporting would be welcome, as our report makes clear, other countries have raced far ahead of the UK on due diligence requirements to tackle modern slavery in supply chains. The Government’s response to our report promised to look at that. If the Minister is unable to update us today, can he agree to facilitate a meeting with the relevant Ministers so that members of our committee have the opportunity to make that case? Some 10 years since the introduction of the Modern Slavery Act, the Government have a golden opportunity to reclaim the UK’s title as a world leader in the battle against modern slavery. We owe it to the victims to seize that chance. I look forward to the further contributions to this debate and to the Minister’s response. I beg to move.

--- Later in debate ---

[Baroness O'Grady of Upper Holloway (Lab)]

I thank noble Lords for their powerful contributions today, which demonstrate the strength of the continuing cross-party commitment. It has been a very good debate. I thank my noble friend the Minister for his response.

I cannot mention every name in my brief response, partly in the interests of time and partly, if I am honest, because I am still practising this role. However, I was struck by the opening comments of the noble Lord, Lord Randall, that none of us can be confident that the clothes we wear and the food we eat are free of modern slavery, and that makes us complicit. I would add that it makes those of us with some power obligated to do something about it and take action.

Whether it is sexual exploitation, domestic servitude, county lines or labour abuses, and whether that is onshore or offshore, as the noble Baroness, Lady Barker, pointed out, the common thread running through modern slavery is the pursuit of profit for the dehumanisation of people. The noble Lord, Lord Whitty, talked about absolute control. As the noble Lord, Lord Kempsell, reminded us, this is a terrible crime, and it should be tackled as such.

Other noble Lords may not be aware, but my noble friend the Minister has a very long track record in countering racism and fascism and being a champion of workers’ rights. I know that he understands the dangerously corrosive impact of dehumanisation, both on vulnerable individuals and on society as a whole. Many of us have recognised that the Government are already taking steps to tackle extreme exploitation, and we welcome the positive commitment to engage with the committee’s recommendations, including a further meeting. As a trade unionist, sometimes the only outcome of a meeting was to secure another meeting, so I am genuinely taking that as a win. However, I encourage the Minister to relay our concern that, if we are to consign modern slavery to history, in all its vicious varieties, then the Government must go further and faster.

The noble Lord, Lord Smith, talked about how rarely we discuss preventing modern slavery in the first place, missing red flags, and the importance of international co-operation. I think we would all agree that the balance of power has swung too far in favour of modern slavery criminals. To put that right, victims must be empowered, and, as the noble Lord, Lord Whitty, and the noble Baroness, Lady Hamwee, pointed out, the police, the courts, inspectorates and civic society must be properly resourced. As the noble and learned Baroness, Lady Butler-Sloss, stressed, neither should the Government shy away from updating immigration legislation. On immigration laws, the imperative is clear.

The right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Bristol and the noble Lord, Lord Watson, talked about the importance of strengthening due diligence in supply chains. As a committee, we are keen to see much more ambitious policy on this front.

The Minister should take heart from the appetite for change from our cross-party committee, but I gently forewarn him that we will continue to hold the Government to account on progress. That is the very least that modern slavery victims and survivors deserve.

Motion agreed.