People Trafficking

Baroness Massey of Darwen Excerpts

Thursday 2nd February 2012 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Massey of Darwen]

My Lords, I wish to thank the noble and right reverend Lord, Lord Eames, for instigating this very important short debate. I shall focus on child trafficking, possibly the most horrendous form of this evil, as children are so vulnerable to abuse and to legal ramifications that are too puzzling for them to follow. That is why they need help, support and advocacy.

Along with the noble and right reverend Lord, Lord Eames, I ask the Minister about the co-ordination of services at a national and local level. Children are clearly slipping through nets and many do not get the support they need. The very useful ECPAT booklet, Top Ten Questions on Child Trafficking, sets out very clearly many of those problems. A report from CARE argues, as does ECPAT, that although there is an inter-departmental ministerial group on trafficking, what is needed is an independent monitor, or a national rapporteur, who would assess policy and practice. We have no systematic collection and analysis of data. I believe that the Netherlands and Finland do have rapporteurs and that this has facilitated better analysis and reporting.

I know that there is good practice at a local level. I hope that it is being shared. I will give two brief examples. The Community Partnership Project was set up in 2006 by the London Safeguarding Children Board to improve the safeguarding of children through collaboration between statutory services and communities and faith groups in eight boroughs. One issue was child trafficking, and the board has been very successful in engaging those groups. One recommendation is that partnership with local communities and faith groups should be maintained across London. Such an initiative would surely be effective in other areas of the country.

The same safeguarding board has produced a best practice multi-agency toolkit, bringing together council services and the police. Is anyone collecting and disseminating all the examples of good practice? I return to my concerns that we need systems to deal with child trafficking that are co-ordinated across agencies, and that the Government must provide a strong and sympathetic lead. I submit that a national rapporteur and child advocates for children would be a great help, and that we ought to take account of this debate today.