Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment his Department has made of trends in the level of labour abuse in the (a) wind and (b) solar industry.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government is aware of the abhorrent allegations of forced labour in clean energy supply chains and is committed to tackling it.
That is why we have amended the Great British Energy Act 2025, making it clear that GBE is committed to adopting measures so it acts on any evidence of forced labour in its supply chains – as we would expect of any responsible company.
Legislation and guidance are already in place to help businesses take action against modern slavery. We are further considering how to strengthen Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, including possible penalties for non-compliance.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many people who have no right to work are currently identified and referred within the National Referral Mechanism for modern slavery; and what is the average total annual cost of providing benefits for those who are in the National Referral Mechanism.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The requested data is not available form published statistics, and could only be collated for the purposes of answering this question at disproportionate cost.
The Home Office funds the Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract (MSVCC), which is contracted to spend £379 million over 5 years to provide specialist and statutorily mandated support to adult victims of exploitation and trafficking, in England and Wales. The MSVCC provides safe accommodation where necessary, financial support, and access to a support worker.
Asked by: Blair McDougall (Labour - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to clause 6(a) of the UK-USA Economic and Prosperity Deal, published on 8 May 2025, whether she plans to direct Border Force to search direct cargo flights from Xinjiang to the UK to ensure they are not carrying goods made with forced labour.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Border Force does not routinely assess whether goods on freight entering the UK may have been made using forced labour, but we work closely with law enforcement partners to share intelligence to ensure all goods abide by customs and excise rules.
The Government encourages businesses to monitor their global supply chains with rigour, uncover and remedy any instances of modern slavery they may find. Under Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, commercial businesses who operate in the UK and have a turnover of £36 million or more must report annually on the steps they have taken to prevent modern slavery in their operations and supply chains by publishing an annual modern slavery statement.
The Home Office has recently published updated Transparency in Supply Chains statutory guidance. This new guidance is more comprehensive, practical and ambitious – calling on businesses to go further and faster. This will support businesses to produce high quality statements, which are underpinned by effective measures to prevent and effectively respond to modern slavery.
The Government will continue to assess and monitor the effectiveness of new policy tools that are emerging to ensure we can best tackle environmental harms and human rights abuses, including forced labour, in supply chains. The Government regularly engages with a wide range of stakeholders and its international partner governments on these issues. The Government will consult thoroughly with interested stakeholders as it considers any further action.
Asked by: Blair McDougall (Labour - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to clause 6(a) of the UK-USA Economic and Prosperity Deal, published on 8 May 2025, if he will make it his policy to bar Chinese companies with links to forced labour in Xinjiang from Government procurement contracts.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The UK Government is committed to tackling human rights abuses including modern slavery and human trafficking in public supply chains.
On 24 February 2025 the Procurement Act came into force, providing contracting authorities with stronger powers to exclude suppliers from public procurements where there is compelling evidence of modern slavery within their supply chains. The Act’s new debarment powers will also enable us to take stronger and broader action in relation to supplier misconduct which we will use, where appropriate, to effectively hold organisations to account.
The Cabinet Office has, in addition, published extensive risk-based policy and guidance for commercial teams to tackle labour rights abuses in UK and global supply chains.
Asked by: Baroness Hamwee (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many victims of trafficking referred to the National Referral Mechanism received a positive conclusive grounds decision at any time, and 'temporary permission to stay for victims of human trafficking or slavery’ in 2024.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Statistics on modern slavery are published quarterly. The table sets out the number of positive conclusive grounds decisions issued annually between 2009 and 2024 and the proportion of overall decisions that were positive.
Year | Number of positive Conclusive Grounds decisions issued | Proportion of overall Conclusive Grounds decisions issued that were positive |
2009 | 99 | 67% |
2010 | 245 | 69% |
2011 | 442 | 77% |
2012 | 513 | 80% |
2013 | 685 | 68% |
2014 | 978 | 62% |
2015 | 1,004 | 59% |
2016 | 1,092 | 58% |
2017 | 1,220 | 65% |
2018 | 2,258 | 70% |
2019 | 2,962 | 82% |
2020 | 3,077 | 90% |
2021 | 2,595 | 92% |
2022 | 5,497 | 89% |
2023 | 6,514 | 67% |
2024 | 9,727 | 56% |
The requested data on temporary permission to stay for victims of human trafficking or slavery is not currently available in a verified and published form.
Asked by: Zöe Franklin (Liberal Democrat - Guildford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help tackle the reported increase in modern slavery cases within the care sector since that sector’s inclusion on the Shortage Occupation List.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government is continually looking to improve the quality and provision of modern slavery statistics.
We have recently improved and simplified the First Responders form used to refer people to the NRM, following extensive feedback from over 450 stakeholders. These changes will have a direct and positive impact on the accuracy of data collection, as well as improve the quality of referrals.
Asked by: Zöe Franklin (Liberal Democrat - Guildford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to improve the accuracy of data collection on modern slavery cases.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government is continually looking to improve the quality and provision of modern slavery statistics.
We have recently improved and simplified the First Responders form used to refer people to the NRM, following extensive feedback from over 450 stakeholders. These changes will have a direct and positive impact on the accuracy of data collection, as well as improve the quality of referrals.
Asked by: Katie Lam (Conservative - Weald of Kent)
Question
To ask the hon. Member for Battersea, representing the Church Commissioners, pursuant to the Answer of 6 May 2025 to Question 47116 on Church of England: Slavery, when the Church Commissioners plan to submit an application to authorise an ex-gratia payment for Project Spire under section 106 of the Charities Act 2011.
Answered by Marsha De Cordova
The timing and discussion of when to apply to the Charity Commission to make an ex gratia payment application, under section 106 of the Charities Act 2011, are matters for the Board of Governors of the Church Commissioners. The Board has not yet decided on the timing of any application to the Charity Commission.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of Sections 2.26 to 2.36 of the statutory guidance entitled Modern Slavery: statutory guidance for England and Wales (under s49 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015), published on 2 June 2025, on people who are victims of human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The National Referral Mechanism (NRM) is the UK’s framework for identifying and supporting victims of modern slavery and human trafficking and is intended as a means of fulfilling certain obligations from the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (ECAT).
The Home Office publishes relevant statutory guidance, legislation and national strategies to support professionals to identify and support victims, including those who have experienced sexual exploitation.
The Modern Slavery: statutory guidance for England and Wales (under s49 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015) and non-statutory guidance for Scotland and Northern Ireland was updated in May 2024 to aid Competent Authority decision makers within the NRM process to more clearly indicate exploitative scenarios, and as such identify sexual exploitation victims of modern slavery for the purpose of the NRM.
The Government is fully committed to identifying, supporting and protecting victims, and tackling the devastating harm associated with modern slavery, including sexual exploitation, and keeps all policies and processes under review.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of aligning the statutory guidance entitled Modern Slavery: statutory guidance for England and Wales (under s49 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015) and non-statutory guidance for Scotland and Northern Ireland, published on 2 June 2025, with (a) the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings and (b) other international regulations in the context of assessments of whether a person is likely to be a victim of human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The National Referral Mechanism (NRM) is the UK’s framework for identifying and supporting victims of modern slavery and human trafficking and is intended as a means of fulfilling certain obligations from the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (ECAT).
The Home Office publishes relevant statutory guidance, legislation and national strategies to support professionals to identify and support victims, including those who have experienced sexual exploitation.
The Modern Slavery: statutory guidance for England and Wales (under s49 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015) and non-statutory guidance for Scotland and Northern Ireland was updated in May 2024 to aid Competent Authority decision makers within the NRM process to more clearly indicate exploitative scenarios, and as such identify sexual exploitation victims of modern slavery for the purpose of the NRM.
The Government is fully committed to identifying, supporting and protecting victims, and tackling the devastating harm associated with modern slavery, including sexual exploitation, and keeps all policies and processes under review.