Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made an assessment of the prevalence of exploitation of workers in the short-term holiday and short-term stays sector.
Answered by Sarah Dines
The Government is committed to tackling the heinous crime of modern slavery. We are identifying more victims of modern slavery and doing more to bring perpetrators to justice than ever before.
We have also introduced several initiatives aimed at preventing human trafficking and exploitation, these include:
Supporting the police to tackle modern slavery, including dedicated funding totalling £17.8 million since 2016. This funding has supported the Modern Slavery and Organised Immigration Crime Unit, run by Devon and Cornwall Police, to increase police awareness and ability to tackle modern slavery across England and Wales.
Introducing training interventions for frontline services that might encounter victims of modern slavery, making sure operational colleagues such as Border Force can recognise the signs of modern slavery and are equipped to step in.
Between 2016 and March 2023, the Home Office spent over £37m through the Modern Slavery Fund, which has a strong focus on upstream prevention.
The government has not assessed the prevalence of exploitation of workers in the short-term holiday and short-term stays sector.
Asked by: Baroness Hamwee (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they expect to appoint an Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The role of the Anti-Slavery Commissioner (IASC) as set out in the 2015 Modern Slavery Act is to encourage good practice in the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of slavery and human trafficking offences and the identification of victims.
The Home Secretary recognises the importance of the IASC and had launched a new open competition to recruit for this role on the 23 February 2023, the process for which is now at an advanced stage.
Asked by: Lord Touhig (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what specialist support they offer to unaccompanied migrant children who have been arrested, including those who have been trafficked, to enable them to rebuild their lives.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department takes the welfare of unaccompanied migrant children extremely seriously and we are committed to ensuring they are safe and secure. Local authorities have a duty to provide services to all children in need in their area. Under Section 20 of the Children Act 1989, those under the age of 18 arriving as unaccompanied asylum-seekers should enter the care of the local authority in which area they first present.
All unaccompanied children, including those who have been arrested or trafficked, should be safeguarded and have their welfare promoted in the same way as any other looked-after child. Social Workers and other practitioners including police, health, education and youth offender services practitioners, and those who care for looked-after children, are encouraged to consider the full range of support available to looked after children in their areas, including that from community and other organisations.
The provisions under the Modern Slavery Act 2015 ensure that if there is uncertainty over whether a potential victim of trafficking is a child or an adult, then that person is presumed to be a child and receives the appropriate support without delay. If practitioners have concerns that a child may be a potential victim of modern slavery or human trafficking, then a referral should be made to the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) as soon as possible. Guidance on making a referral can be found in the attached document. The NRM acts as a formal framework for first responders to identify potential victims of trafficking and assists with the provision of victim support. Like any other child in need, a trafficked child referred through the NRM should be safeguarded by the local authority on which the referral is made. Where it is evident that the child faces a significant risk of harm from the trafficker, appropriate arrangements will need to be put in place to keep the child safe from harm, and the child’s care plan should include such measures.
In addition, the Home Office has rolled out Independent Child Trafficking Guardians (ICTGs) to two thirds of local authorities in England and Wales. In June 2023, the Minister for Safeguarding agreed to extend the current grant agreement to 31 March 2025, alongside working to deliver ICTG national rollout covering all of England and Wales. ICTGs are an additional source of advice and support for potentially trafficked children, and somebody who can advocate on their behalf to ensure their best interests are reflected in the decision-making processes undertaken by the public authorities who are involved in the child’s care. The support they provided is in addition to the statutory support provided to children by local authorities. Statutory guidance on roles and responsibilities of ICTGs is attached.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions she has had with the Northern Ireland Department of Justice on human trafficking in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Sarah Dines
The Home Secretary chairs an Interministerial Group on safety and security with the devolved administrations to consider matters of shared interest. Senior officials from the Northern Ireland Civil Service attend the group in observer capacity in the absence of NI Executive Ministers.
Further, the Home Office engages regularly with officials in the Northern Ireland Department of Justice on modern slavery, as well as hosts quarterly meetings on modern slavery between senior Home Office officials and representatives of the devolved administrations.
Asked by: Diana Johnson (Labour - Kingston upon Hull North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has appointed an Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner.
Answered by Sarah Dines
The role of the Anti-Slavery Commissioner (IASC) as set out in the 2015 Modern Slavery Act is to encourage good practice in the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of slavery and human trafficking offences and the identification of victims.
The Home Secretary recognises the importance of the IASC and had launched a new open competition to recruit for this role on the 23 February 2023, the process for which is now at an advanced stage.
Asked by: Claudia Webbe (Independent - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps her Departments are taking to help ensure that garment factories in Leicester East constituency are (a) inspected effectively and (b) meet legal obligations on (i) pay, (ii) safety and (ii) working conditions.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
HMRC enforces the National Minimum Wage on behalf of the Department for Business and Trade. Where HMRC identify other risks such as potential Modern Slavery & Human Trafficking, HMRC will make referrals to the bodies with the powers to investigate.
Similarly, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) will respond to intelligence about unsafe working practices that they receive from a variety of sources including workers and other agencies. This follow up includes inspection where it is the most effective form of intervention.
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she has taken to provide safeguarding processes for (a) victims of modern slavery and (b) other vulnerable adults arriving in the UK.
Answered by Sarah Dines
Protecting the vulnerable and tackling MSHT is a top priority for Border Force. As First Responders, frontline Border Force Officers play a key role in identifying both victims and perpetrators of human trafficking as they seek to cross the UK border. Border Force work to prevent exploitation from happening, to safeguard and protect vulnerable persons and in collaboration with other law enforcement colleagues seek to bring to justice those who commit MSHT crime. All frontline Border Force officers are trained to spot the signs of MSHT and make necessary safeguarding referrals. Border Force also has a cadre of over 500 specialist Safeguarding & Modern Slavery (SAMS) officers.
All Border Force safeguarding and Modern Slavery training is reviewed and updated to ensure it continues to fulfil those ICIBI (Independent Chief Inspector for Borders & Immigration) and IASC (Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner) expectations which the Home Office has accepted.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the 2022 Trafficking in Persons report from the US Department of State, which concluded that the government of China continued to place ethnic Tibetans in vocational training and manufacturing jobs with elements of modern day slavery, throughout 2022.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are aware of the 2022 Trafficking in Persons Report from the US Department of State. The report highlights evidence of forced labour in China, especially in Xinjiang and Tibet, as well as Chinese nationals being forced to work in Asia, the Middle East and Europe. We will continue to press the Chinese authorities to uphold their human rights obligations. Most recently, the Foreign Secretary raised the human rights situation in Xinjiang at a meeting with Chinese Vice President Han Zheng on 5 May 2023.
Asked by: Lord McColl of Dulwich (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask His Majesty's Government, how many people have been (1) prosecuted, and (2) convicted, for offences of human trafficking in the Modern Slavery Act 2015, for each of the past five years.
Answered by Lord Stewart of Dirleton - Advocate General for Scotland
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) holds no data showing the number of convictions for human trafficking offences in England and Wales under the Modern Slavery Act 2015.
However, data is held showing the number of defendants prosecuted and convicted where the human trafficking monitoring flag has been applied to case records. The table below shows the number of prosecutions and convictions for defendants during each of the last five years in England and Wales.
| 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
Prosecuted | 294 | 349 | 267 | 466 | 405 |
Convicted | 191 | 251 | 197 | 332 | 282 |
Data Source: CPS Case Management Information System | |||||
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to appoint the new Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The role of the Anti-Slavery Commissioner (IASC) as set out in the 2015 Modern Slavery Act is to encourage good practice in the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of slavery and human trafficking offences and the identification of victims.
The Home Secretary recognises the importance of the role of the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner and had launched a new open competition to recruit for this role.
The role went live on 23 February 2023 and applications have now closed. For further information and the estimated timeline for this appointment please see the public appointment section on gov.uk.
The competition will be conducted as quickly as possible, whilst ensuring we take the necessary steps to recruit the best person for the role.