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Speech in Lords Chamber - Wed 20 Jul 2022
Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme

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View all Baroness Doocey (LD - Life peer) contributions to the debate on: Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme

Speech in Lords Chamber - Mon 18 Jul 2022
Mr Mike Veale

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View all Baroness Doocey (LD - Life peer) contributions to the debate on: Mr Mike Veale

Speech in Lords Chamber - Thu 12 May 2022
HM Passport Office: Backlogs

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View all Baroness Doocey (LD - Life peer) contributions to the debate on: HM Passport Office: Backlogs

Written Question
Human Trafficking: Children
Tuesday 6th April 2021

Asked by: Baroness Doocey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to ensure that police forces in England and Wales can collaborate with EU counterparts on missing children and trafficking investigations when a child has been trafficked from the UK to Europe.

Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)

Tackling modern slavery, including child trafficking, is a priority for this Government and we are committed to continuing to work closely with EU partners to address this heinous crime.

The UK/EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) delivers a comprehensive package of capabilities that ensures we can work with counterparts across Europe to tackle serious crime. This includes enabling our law enforcement agencies to continue to share information on investigations, including those related to child trafficking, with EU counterparts.


Written Question
Human Trafficking: Children
Wednesday 10th March 2021

Asked by: Baroness Doocey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to amend the Modern Slavery Act 2015 (1) to reflect, and (2) to combat, increases in reports of the number of potential human trafficking cases involving children.

Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)

The Government is committed to tackling modern slavery including cases involving child trafficking and sexual exploitation. The Modern Slavery Act 2015, gives law enforcement agencies the tools to tackle modern slavery, including maximum life sentences for perpetrators and enhanced protection for victims. In July 2018, the Government commissioned an Independent Review of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 to identify what can be improved in the implementation of the Act. The Government’s response to this review can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/government-response-to-the-independent-review-of-the-modern-slavery-act

We are committed to strengthening the law enforcement response to modern slavery and in 2020/21 we allocated over £2 million funding to the police to support the Modern Slavery and Organised Immigration Crime programme. During the pandemic we have also worked closely with law enforcement to monitor any changes in the threat of modern slavery including cases involving trafficked children and sexual exploitation.

The Home Office continues to work with First Responders to ensure they understand the indicators of different exploitation types and can refer potential victims into appropriate support. In July 2020, we released an E-Learning module available to all First Responders to improve their understanding of their responsibilities and the support available.

With this greater awareness and improved understanding of modern slavery, more potential victims are being identified and protected. The latest statistics can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-referral-mechanism-statistics. The Home Office is currently addressing an earlier identified error that occurred in the data processing for the Q1-Q3 of 2020 statistics where some sexual exploitation referrals were miscategorised as ‘Not recorded or unknown’. Once this error is rectified, the number of sexual exploitation referrals will be higher than in the current statistical bulletins and the number of ‘not recorded or unknown’ referrals will be lower. The updated data will be released alongside the Quarter 4 (October to December 2020) statistics which are being prepared and will be released on 18 March 2021.

The Government continues to focus on improving identification and support for potential victims by embarking on an ambitious National Referral Mechanism Transformation Programme to build on our world leading efforts to identify vulnerable victims and provide the support that they need to rebuild their lives. This will ensure that victims are safeguarded and supported based on their individual recovery need, with a focus on supporting the most vulnerable and making good use of existing access to mainstream services. As part of this programme, we are progressing the roll out of the Independent Child Trafficking Guardians service.

The Government is committed to tackling the drivers that can lead individuals to become potential victims of trafficking. Local authorities are responsible for the safeguarding and promotion of welfare of all children in their area, co-operating closely with police and other statutory agencies to offer child victims required protection and support. In 2020-21, local government received an additional £1 billion grant for adult and children’s social care. This is on top of the continuation of the £410 million social care grant. In addition, we are investing £84 million in targeted, evidence-based interventions to improve the support provided to vulnerable children and their families and enable more children to stay at home thriving in stable family environments. The Government is also strongly committed to supporting victims of sexual exploitation and continues to provide investment in this area, including by allocating £76 million to support victims of modern slavery, sexual violence, and domestic abuse during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Home Office has committed to create a new Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy this year and ran a nationwide Call for Evidence from 10 December to 19 February to gather the views from a wide range of stakeholders to inform this strategy. The strategy will also consider wider work, including on modern slavery and sexual exploitation.


Written Question
Human Trafficking
Wednesday 10th March 2021

Asked by: Baroness Doocey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to amend the Modern Slavery Act 2015 (1) to reflect, and (2) to combat, increases in reports of potential human trafficking cases related to sexual exploitation.

Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)

The Government is committed to tackling modern slavery including cases involving child trafficking and sexual exploitation. The Modern Slavery Act 2015, gives law enforcement agencies the tools to tackle modern slavery, including maximum life sentences for perpetrators and enhanced protection for victims. In July 2018, the Government commissioned an Independent Review of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 to identify what can be improved in the implementation of the Act. The Government’s response to this review can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/government-response-to-the-independent-review-of-the-modern-slavery-act

We are committed to strengthening the law enforcement response to modern slavery and in 2020/21 we allocated over £2 million funding to the police to support the Modern Slavery and Organised Immigration Crime programme. During the pandemic we have also worked closely with law enforcement to monitor any changes in the threat of modern slavery including cases involving trafficked children and sexual exploitation.

The Home Office continues to work with First Responders to ensure they understand the indicators of different exploitation types and can refer potential victims into appropriate support. In July 2020, we released an E-Learning module available to all First Responders to improve their understanding of their responsibilities and the support available.

With this greater awareness and improved understanding of modern slavery, more potential victims are being identified and protected. The latest statistics can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-referral-mechanism-statistics. The Home Office is currently addressing an earlier identified error that occurred in the data processing for the Q1-Q3 of 2020 statistics where some sexual exploitation referrals were miscategorised as ‘Not recorded or unknown’. Once this error is rectified, the number of sexual exploitation referrals will be higher than in the current statistical bulletins and the number of ‘not recorded or unknown’ referrals will be lower. The updated data will be released alongside the Quarter 4 (October to December 2020) statistics which are being prepared and will be released on 18 March 2021.

The Government continues to focus on improving identification and support for potential victims by embarking on an ambitious National Referral Mechanism Transformation Programme to build on our world leading efforts to identify vulnerable victims and provide the support that they need to rebuild their lives. This will ensure that victims are safeguarded and supported based on their individual recovery need, with a focus on supporting the most vulnerable and making good use of existing access to mainstream services. As part of this programme, we are progressing the roll out of the Independent Child Trafficking Guardians service.

The Government is committed to tackling the drivers that can lead individuals to become potential victims of trafficking. Local authorities are responsible for the safeguarding and promotion of welfare of all children in their area, co-operating closely with police and other statutory agencies to offer child victims required protection and support. In 2020-21, local government received an additional £1 billion grant for adult and children’s social care. This is on top of the continuation of the £410 million social care grant. In addition, we are investing £84 million in targeted, evidence-based interventions to improve the support provided to vulnerable children and their families and enable more children to stay at home thriving in stable family environments. The Government is also strongly committed to supporting victims of sexual exploitation and continues to provide investment in this area, including by allocating £76 million to support victims of modern slavery, sexual violence, and domestic abuse during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Home Office has committed to create a new Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy this year and ran a nationwide Call for Evidence from 10 December to 19 February to gather the views from a wide range of stakeholders to inform this strategy. The strategy will also consider wider work, including on modern slavery and sexual exploitation.


Written Question
Human Trafficking
Wednesday 10th March 2021

Asked by: Baroness Doocey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of potential human trafficking victims facing exploitation of a sexual nature.

Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)

The Government is committed to tackling modern slavery including cases involving child trafficking and sexual exploitation. The Modern Slavery Act 2015, gives law enforcement agencies the tools to tackle modern slavery, including maximum life sentences for perpetrators and enhanced protection for victims. In July 2018, the Government commissioned an Independent Review of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 to identify what can be improved in the implementation of the Act. The Government’s response to this review can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/government-response-to-the-independent-review-of-the-modern-slavery-act

We are committed to strengthening the law enforcement response to modern slavery and in 2020/21 we allocated over £2 million funding to the police to support the Modern Slavery and Organised Immigration Crime programme. During the pandemic we have also worked closely with law enforcement to monitor any changes in the threat of modern slavery including cases involving trafficked children and sexual exploitation.

The Home Office continues to work with First Responders to ensure they understand the indicators of different exploitation types and can refer potential victims into appropriate support. In July 2020, we released an E-Learning module available to all First Responders to improve their understanding of their responsibilities and the support available.

With this greater awareness and improved understanding of modern slavery, more potential victims are being identified and protected. The latest statistics can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-referral-mechanism-statistics. The Home Office is currently addressing an earlier identified error that occurred in the data processing for the Q1-Q3 of 2020 statistics where some sexual exploitation referrals were miscategorised as ‘Not recorded or unknown’. Once this error is rectified, the number of sexual exploitation referrals will be higher than in the current statistical bulletins and the number of ‘not recorded or unknown’ referrals will be lower. The updated data will be released alongside the Quarter 4 (October to December 2020) statistics which are being prepared and will be released on 18 March 2021.

The Government continues to focus on improving identification and support for potential victims by embarking on an ambitious National Referral Mechanism Transformation Programme to build on our world leading efforts to identify vulnerable victims and provide the support that they need to rebuild their lives. This will ensure that victims are safeguarded and supported based on their individual recovery need, with a focus on supporting the most vulnerable and making good use of existing access to mainstream services. As part of this programme, we are progressing the roll out of the Independent Child Trafficking Guardians service.

The Government is committed to tackling the drivers that can lead individuals to become potential victims of trafficking. Local authorities are responsible for the safeguarding and promotion of welfare of all children in their area, co-operating closely with police and other statutory agencies to offer child victims required protection and support. In 2020-21, local government received an additional £1 billion grant for adult and children’s social care. This is on top of the continuation of the £410 million social care grant. In addition, we are investing £84 million in targeted, evidence-based interventions to improve the support provided to vulnerable children and their families and enable more children to stay at home thriving in stable family environments. The Government is also strongly committed to supporting victims of sexual exploitation and continues to provide investment in this area, including by allocating £76 million to support victims of modern slavery, sexual violence, and domestic abuse during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Home Office has committed to create a new Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy this year and ran a nationwide Call for Evidence from 10 December to 19 February to gather the views from a wide range of stakeholders to inform this strategy. The strategy will also consider wider work, including on modern slavery and sexual exploitation.


Written Question
Single Competent Authority: Staff
Wednesday 10th March 2021

Asked by: Baroness Doocey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 10 December 2020 (HL10798), how many new staff have taken up their posts to work in the Home Office Single Competent Authority since 10 December 2020.

Answered by Lord Greenhalgh

Since 10 December 2020, over 260 new staff have been recruited to work in the Home Office Single Competent Authority, with 26 of these staff already in post. A recruitment exercise for a further 100 posts (which were not filled in the first recruitment round) is due to conclude this month.


Written Question
European Convention on Human Rights
Monday 8th March 2021

Asked by: Baroness Doocey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the decision by the European Court of Human Rights on 16 February that the UK was in violation of Articles 4 and 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights, what steps they are taking to prevent further such breaches in future.

Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)

The Government is committed to tackling the heinous crime of modern slavery and ensuring that victims are provided with the support they need to begin rebuilding their lives. In 2015, we introduced the landmark Modern Slavery Act, giving law enforcement agencies the tools to tackle modern slavery, including maximum life sentences for perpetrators and enhanced protection for victims. The Act also introduced the statutory defence (Section 45) for victims of modern slavery to protect vulnerable people from being prosecuted for crimes they were forced to commit by their exploiter.

In relation to the case of VCL and AN vs the United Kingdom, which relates to the position prior to the enactment of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, the Government is carefully considering the Court’s judgment.


Written Question
Human Trafficking: Children
Tuesday 23rd February 2021

Asked by: Baroness Doocey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to reduce the number of potential child trafficking victims recorded as facing an unknown type of exploitation under the National Referral Mechanism.

Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)

This Government is committed to tackling the heinous crime of modern slavery and ensuring that all victims, including children, are provided with the support they need.

The Home Office continues to work with a range of partners to identify and deliver effective prevention activity. This includes awareness raising initiatives such as the Government’s ‘Hidden in Plain Sight’ campaign and the #SlaveryonYourDoorstep campaign led by CrimeStoppers. We also have a dedicated GOV.UK resources page that provides up-to-date information on how to spot the signs of modern slavery and report concerns.

Where children are found to be potential victims of human trafficking or modern slavery their safety and welfare are addressed as a priority. Local authorities are responsible for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all children in their area, including child victims of modern slavery. Local children's services will work in close co-operation with the police and other statutory agencies to offer potentially trafficked children the protection and support they require.

With regard to the types of exploitation experienced by child trafficking victims in the UK and any change in the types of exploitation being identified over the past 10 years, the Home Office publishes statistics on National Referral Mechanism (NRM) referrals on a quarterly basis. The NRM statistics for 2012 to 2016 can be found here: https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20170404150655/http://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/publications/national-referral-mechanism-statistics.

The NRM statistics for 2017 to 2018 can be found here: https://nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/who-we-are/publications?search=&category%5B%5D=3&=%2Fwho-we-are%2Fpublications%3Flimit%3D15%26sort%3Dtitle%26direction%3Dasc&limit=100&tag=

The 2019 report and Q1-Q3 of 2020 can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-referral-mechanism-statistics

With regard to why some potential child trafficking victims are recorded as having experienced an unknown type of exploitation, the Home Office is currently addressing an earlier identified error that occurred in the data processing for the Q1-Q3 of 2020 statistics where some sexual exploitation referrals were miscategorised as ‘Not recorded or unknown’. Once this error is rectified, the number of sexual exploitation referrals will be higher than in the current statistical bulletins and the number of ‘not recorded or unknown’ referrals will be lower. The updated data will be released alongside the Quarter 4 (October to December 2020) statistics which are being prepared and will be released on 18 March 2021.

At the Reasonable Grounds stage of the National Referral Mechanism, the standard of proof is ‘suspects but cannot prove’. In Q2 and Q3 of 2020, 96% of Reasonable Grounds decisions made on child cases were positive.

Prior to the NRM digital case working system going live in January 2020, data collection on NRM cases included an ‘unknown’ exploitation category for any unknown case exploitation types. Since the new system has been introduced, there is now an ‘other exploitation’ free-text box that First Responders can fill in on the referral form to explain why they are unable to identify the exploitation type. The information contained within this box is considered by a Decision Maker when making the Reasonable Grounds decision. However, for data reporting purposes, this is classified as ‘unknown’.

Reasonable Grounds decisions are made based on the account of exploitation submitted in the form and not specifically on the exploitation type data, which is recorded to enable data analysis rather than to specifically support decision-making.

The Home Office continues to work with First Responders to ensure they understand the indicators of different exploitation types and, in July 2020, we released a new First Responder e-learning module which includes support on this issue.