Asked by: Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative - Chingford and Woodford Green)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many solar arrays in GB Energy inventory were made in part or in whole using forced labour.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Great British Energy will lead the way in ethical supply chains by engaging with stakeholders to raise standards, explore alternatives to diversify high-risk supply chains, and work internationally to align with leading global partners.
As a publicly owned company, Great British Energy is expected to be a first in class example of adherence to the UK’s legislation and guidance on modern slavery, including the Modern Slavery Act 2015, and is actively engaging with partners to raise the bar globally on solar supply chain transparency and accountability.
Solar purchasing has been undertaken by Devolved Governments, Other Government Departments, NHS Trusts, and relevant Mayoral Combined Authorities, under clear expectations by GBE that they must comply with UK procurement rules, including requirements under the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and Procurement Act 2023, as well as seeking out additional reassurances where necessary.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the principal barriers have been to the deportation of foreign nationals convicted of sexual offences since 2024; and what steps her Department is taking to help tackle those barriers.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office deals with significant and complex challenges when seeking to return those who have no right to be in the UK to their country of origin. Sometimes the UK’s current obligations under international law prohibit us from returning certain individuals despite their criminality. Legal or re-documentation barriers can frustrate immediate deportation. Despite these barriers, we are fully committed to making our communities safer by deporting those who break our laws.
To address these challenges, this government is committed to reforming the appeals process by creating a new appeals body with professionally trained adjudicators. We will also strengthen the certification regime to deny appeal rights for clearly unmeritorious claims. Furthermore, the number of countries that foreign national offenders can be deported to before they can lodge an appeal from abroad has also been increased.
We are also working to reform Human Rights and Modern Slavery claims. In these areas we will rebalance the public interest test for Article 8 claims and work with our international partners to reform the application of the ECHR’s prohibition on inhuman or degrading treatment. With the Modern Slavery reforms legislation will be brought forward to clarify our responsibilities under international law, the removal of reconsideration for negative decisions, enhanced screening for individuals detained for removal, and a stronger link between timely disclosure and credibility of a claim.
Finally, under new measures introduced by the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025, sexual offences which give rise to the notification requirement in Schedule 3 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 will be assumed to be ‘particularly serious’ for the purpose of applying Article 33(2) of the Refugee Convention, thereby allowing the UK to exclude those individuals from being granted asylum protections in the UK.
Where removal is still not possible due to our ECHR obligations, the provision will ensure that such individuals are not afforded the generous benefits of protection status in the UK.
Asked by: Paul Kohler (Liberal Democrat - Wimbledon)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that companies operating in the UK are carrying out robust due diligence to identify and prevent modern slavery practices within their operations and supply chains.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK’s current approach to tackling forced labour in global supply chains is focused on driving transparency. Section 54 of the UK’s Modern Slavery Act 2015 requires businesses with a turnover of £36m or more to publish modern slavery statements.
The Government launched a review in the Trade Strategy, into the UK’s approach to responsible business conduct, focused on tackling human rights and labour abuses and environmental harms in global supply chains.
The review is progressing and is considering the effectiveness of the UK’s current regime and the merits of alternative measures to support responsible business practices, including mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence. We shall update the House when the review is complete.
Asked by: Paul Kohler (Liberal Democrat - Wimbledon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many prosecutions for modern slavery offences have been brought in the past five years; and what measures are in place to improve victim identification and access to justice.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
This Government is committed to tackling modern slavery, ensuring that victims are provided with the support they need to begin rebuilding their lives and that those responsible are prosecuted.
The data on the number of modern slavery prosecutions is published by the Crown Prosecution Service and the available data shows that between 2019 and 2024 there were:
| 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
Convictions | 251 | 197 | 332 | 282 | 311 | 353 |
Non-convictions | 98 | 70 | 134 | 123 | 99 | 101 |
Total prosecuted | 349 | 267 | 466 | 405 | 410 | 454 |
The National Police Chief Council Lead for modern slavery is developing a national investigations framework to strengthen police forces’ ability to identify, disrupt and bring to justice the perpetrators behind this crime.
The Home Office has also committed to reviewing the modern slavery system in the Restoring Order and Control Statement to ensure that we have the right protections for those who need it. This will build on the responses we received to a Call for Evidence on the victim identification system which closed in October. The Home Office is now analysing the responses received and we will consider the evidence gathered to explore any further changes that could be made to improve the identification of victims.
Furthermore, potential victims of modern slavery with a positive Reasonable or Conclusive Grounds decision have access to legal aid, this includes criminal and civil legal aid, legal aid for immigration advice, advice on an asylum claim, employment law advice and for a civil claim of damages.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what human rights safeguards are in place to protect vulnerable people from wrongful deportation under the 'one-in, one-out' scheme; and what assessment they have made of how that scheme complies with the UK's obligations under international law.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The UK - France Agreement is set out in an international treaty and is deemed to be fully compliant with international law, including the Refugee Convention.
Individuals who arrive in the UK via small boat may be detained on arrival under immigration powers pending examination and removal.
In accordance with statutory and international obligations and as part of inadmissibility action, individuals in scope for removal under the treaty are able to make representations regarding matters which may be relevant to an inadmissibility declaration and removal from the UK to France. Case-by-case consideration will be given to any claimed individual circumstances that mean France would not be safe in any particular case, including any vulnerabilities.
Any referrals from individuals who may be victims of modern slavery are carefully considered in line with the relevant statutory and international obligations. Where they are not judged to be a victim of modern slavery and require permission to stay in the UK, their protection claim can then be considered for inadmissible action and the individual considered for return to France.
Where an individual is detained, the suitability of ongoing detention is regularly reviewed, and where there is no legal barrier removal will proceed.
We will continue to work with French authorities to ensure swift, lawful processing under the Agreement and to maintain public safety; and are continuously monitoring and evaluating our pilot, alongside the procedures in place to deliver it.
Asked by: Paul Kohler (Liberal Democrat - Wimbledon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the prevalence of human trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation in the UK; and what additional measures are being taken to strengthen protections for victims and increase successful prosecutions.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The trafficking of women and girls for sexual exploitation is a truly horrific crime. This Government has set out a mission to halve violence against women and girls in a decade, and we will use all the levers available to us to deliver this ambition. This is why the recently published Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy includes a series of measures to tackle sexual exploitation and to better support victims and survivors.
Victims of sexual exploitation make up a large proportion of referrals to the National Referral Mechanism. The most recent annual statistics show that in 2024, sexual exploitation (either partly or wholly) accounted for 17% (3,266) of all referrals. Of these, the majority of those referred were females (79%; 2,564).
The Government is working closely with law enforcement to tackle the drivers of trafficking for sexual exploitation, including through law enforcement activity aimed at tackling modern slavery threats and targeting prolific perpetrators. Also, the National Police Lead for modern slavery is leading Project Turnstone, which will develop a new framework for investigating modern slavery and includes a suite of products to guide forces to identify and tackle sexual exploitation.
To support victims to escape and recover from their exploitation, the Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract provides support to adult potential and confirmed victims of exploitation and trafficking in England and Wales. This support includes safe accommodation where necessary, financial support and a support worker to help them access wider support services, including medical treatment, legal aid, legal representatives, and legal advice.
We recently ran a public Call for Evidence on how the Government can improve the process of identifying victims of modern slavery, including for victims who have been trafficked for sexual exploitation. Following analysis of the responses from this Call for Evidence, we will consider whether any future policy changes are needed.
Asked by: Paul Kohler (Liberal Democrat - Wimbledon)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 in preventing the exploitation of vulnerable individuals within large commercial organisations.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The government is committed to tackling modern slavery, ensuring that victims are provided with the support they need to begin rebuilding their lives and that those responsible are prosecuted.
Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 established the UK as the first country in the world to require businesses to report on how they are tackling modern slavery in their operations and supply chains. Section 54 has helped bring greater awareness of modern slavery in boardrooms across the country, but it is clear a decade after the Act, the UK’s approach to tackling labour exploitation needs to evolve.
The government is currently conducting a review of Responsible Business Conduct (RBC) policy. The RBC review will consider the effectiveness of the current UK regime and alternative means of supporting responsible business practices, including consideration of mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence laws and import controls on goods made by forced labour.
The Government is also establishing the Fair Work Agency (FWA). The FWA will bring under one roof multiple agencies and bodies to ensure a more cohesive and streamlined response to exploitation. The FWA will have enhanced powers and resources to identify and address labour exploitation more effectively. It will be a strong, recognisable brand so individuals know where to go for help.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has had recent discussions with universities and cultural institutions on the potential merits of establishing scholarships or research funding for communities impacted by Britain's colonial legacy.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Whilst no such discussions have taken place directly, the Department is in contact with National Museums Liverpool (NML) on the development and refurbishment of the International Slavery Museum, which is being co-produced working closely with Liverpool’s communities. Current proposals include a space for a new National Centre for Teaching Black History, which will continue NML’s partnership with the University of Liverpool by developing a research lab with the Centre for the Study of International Slavery and supporting organisations, through the Transatlantic Slavery & Legacies in Museums Forum.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps she has taken to disrupt organised criminal gangs involved in human trafficking.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government is committed to tackling all forms of modern slavery, including human trafficking and ensuring that victims are identified and supported and offenders are brought to justice. The Modern Slavery Action Plan for 2025-2026 sets out the Government’s ambition to do this.
Under the Action Plan, we are working closely with law enforcement partners in the UK and internationally, to share intelligence to identify organised criminal gangs and tackle the enablers of human trafficking to disrupt offending. This includes implementing measures through the Online Safety Act; providing support through the Modern Slavery Fund to tackle modern slavery at source and reduce the threat both overseas and to the UK; and commissioning research to better under the nexus between organised immigration crime and modern slavery, to identify new ways to break criminals’ business models.
The National Police Chief Council Lead for Modern Slavery and Organised Immigration Crime is also developing a new national framework for investigating modern slavery, which is designed to support police officers at every stage of the investigative process to secure better outcomes.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, What recent discussions his Department has had with partners to counter human trafficking and modern slavery in global supply chains.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The issues raised by the Hon Member are all significant priorities for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), and he can find regular updates about them by consulting the FCDO's annual reports, following the FCDO news feed on GOV.UK, or attending sessions of FCDO departmental questions.