Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have made an estimate of the cost of preparing a list of companies covered by section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
For the time being, we have concluded that demand for a list can be better met by the private sector which holds more comprehensive and easily accessible data. Two independent registries have been set up to monitor companies’ progress in publishing high quality statements. We will continue to work with businesses to ensure that all large companies report properly and take effective action to force these crimes out of their supply chains.
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many Slavery and Trafficking Reparation Orders have been made to date; how many compensation awards have been made to victims as a result of those Orders; and what was the (1) total, and (2) average, amount of those awards.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
No slavery and trafficking reparation orders have been made since their introduction under the Modern Slavery Act 2015 coming into force for offences committed after 31st July 2015. They can only be made once someone has been convicted of a relevant offence and the Crown Court has made a confiscation order against them. Modern slavery prosecutions are complex and often take a long time to complete. As the number of concluded prosecutions rise, we expect to see a rise in the number of reparation orders.
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how they intend to ensure compliance with the Transparency in Supply Chains requirement of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, in the light of the absence of a publicly-available list of companies that are in scope.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The legislation was designed to harness pressure from civil society and we are pleased that NGOs are using company statements to scrutinise businesses and hold them to account, including contacting businesses that have not yet published statements.
The Government is taking action to improve compliance but we know that new legislation takes time to embed. We recently wrote to over 10,000 businesses that may be required to publish statements reminding them of their obligations and pointing them towards relevant guidance. We have also strengthened the wording in our guidance to set out our expectations for these statements more clearly. The Home Secretary can apply for a court injunction requiring businesses to comply. If they still refuse, they will be liable to an unlimited fine for contempt of court.
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what options they have considered for enforcing corporate compliance with section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015; and whether they have considered imposing penalties for those companies that do not comply.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The legislation was designed to harness pressure from civil society and we are pleased that NGOs are using company statements to scrutinise businesses and hold them to account, including contacting businesses that have not yet published statements.
The Government is taking action to improve compliance but we know that new legislation takes time to embed. We recently wrote to over 10,000 businesses that may be required to publish statements reminding them of their obligations and pointing them towards relevant guidance. We have also strengthened the wording in our guidance to set out our expectations for these statements more clearly. The Home Secretary can apply for a court injunction requiring businesses to comply. If they still refuse, they will be liable to an unlimited fine for contempt of court.
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the answer by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 16 October (HL Deb, col 398), what is their estimate of the length of time that the Modern Slavery Act will take to embed; and what measures they are taking in the meantime to ensure that slavery and human trafficking is targeted.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Since the world-leading Modern Slavery Act 2015 was introduced, more victims and survivors are being rescued and supported than ever before, more perpetrators are being brought to justice, and thousands of businesses have published slavery and human trafficking statements. The Government is actively monitoring progress and recently published the UK Annual Report on Modern Slavery setting out the steps we are taking to tackle this abhorrent crime, which can be accessed via: www.gov.uk/government/publications/2017-uk-annual-report-on-modern-slavery
The Home Secretary also commissioned Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services to assess the police response to modern slavery. The report was published on 24 October and the findings will serve as a benchmark against which to measure police progress and address the issues identified. The report can be accessed via: https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmicfrs/publications/stolen-freedom-the-policing-response-to-modern-slavery-and-human-trafficking/
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are planning to require public bodies to include a statement on slavery and human trafficking in their annual report and accounts.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act was designed to shine a light on action that private sector organisations are taking to prevent slavery in their supply chains. Public bodies are subject to different transparency and accountability arrangements. We have added a question to the cross-government procurement selection questionnaire, so that we can assess whether would-be suppliers to HMG are compliant with the Modern Slavery Act. We are also considering whether further steps are needed to support public bodies to do more.
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to introduce a new criminal offence of failure to prevent human rights abuses, as recommended by the Joint Committee on Human Rights in its report <i>Human Rights and Business 2017: Promoting responsibility and ensuring accountability</i> published on 29 March (6th Report, HL Paper 153).
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to introduce legislation to enable prosecution of a parent company where human rights abuses are found further down the supply chain, as recommended by the Joint Committee on Human Rights in its report <i>Human Rights and Business 2017: Promoting responsibility and ensuring accountability</i> published on 29 March (6th Report, HL Paper 153).
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they plan to publish a list of companies that are required to report under the transparency in supply chains provisions of the Modern Slavery Act 2015.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
Every year, thousands of businesses will be required to publish a statement on the action they have taken to prevent slavery in their business and supply chains. We are considering what more the Government can do to amplify the value of company statements to customers, shareholders, investors and activists.
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many licensed firearms there are in the UK broken down by police force area.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The table provided contains statistics on the number of licensed firearms and shotguns, by police force area, in England and Wales as at 31 March 2015.
At this time there was a total of 1.34 million licensed shotguns and 0.53 million licensed firearms.The Home Office does not centrally hold any estimates for unlicensed firearms.
Figures for Scotland and Northern Ireland are a matter for the devolved administrations.