Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery

Clive Betts Excerpts

Wednesday 29th March 2023 Westminster Hall

[Several hon. Members rose—]

[Mr Clive Betts (in the Chair)]

Four Members wish to speak, and we have 30 minutes, so if hon. Members could divide that into seven and a half minutes each, and stick to that, it would be really appreciated. I call Sarah Champion.

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[Priti Patel]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. If I may, Mr Betts, I would reflect on the fact that, when I was Home Secretary, we saw the most appalling act of people trafficking, in a lorry in my hon. Friend’s constituency; that was the Purfleet incident, and 39 individuals—victims—passed away. It was one of the most horrific incidents, but we have had strong criminal prosecutions, and other work has taken place. I will come to that in a minute.

On my hon. Friend’s point, cuckooing, children being exploited through drug gangs, and other vulnerable people have dominated much of my work over three and a half years. There is a fundamental link here: criminal gangs showing contempt and disregard for human life and dignity. This is a big tragedy, which we are all here discussing today.

The latest figures from the ILO estimate that in 2021, 28 million people worldwide were forced into labour and 22 million were forced into marriages. These issues are more prevalent than ever today, despite the fact that we think the world and society have moved on and there is greater awareness. That 50 million is more than the population of Spain, so we should just think about the scale of the challenge we face. The ILO also estimated that that number had increased by 10 million between 2016 and 2021. That demonstrates the nature of the criminality, which my hon. Friend touched on, and that is why we have to be relentless.

I recognise the Home Office footprint in this as well. We do need an anti-slavery commissioner; there are reasons why that was delayed last year, which are mainly down to the changes in Government that took place more than once. In reality, however, this should be a whole-of-Government effort. That is why my right hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May), who deserves every credit and tribute for the work she led on securing the Modern Slavery Act 2015, was fundamental in this area because she recognised that. During my time in the Department for International Development, we worked internationally on this matter, and I had the privilege of working with my right hon. Friend when she was Prime Minister to develop that call to action to end forced labour, modern slavery and human trafficking. Under her leadership, that went straight to the United Nations General Assembly in 2017, and its impact was significant. It was a major moment for the United Kingdom and one we should be proud of. It brought together 37 countries to introduce commitments to strengthen law enforcement activity, galvanise international co-operation and support victims. We rightly funded that and put aid into that. That investment helped tackle modern-day slavery upstream in transit countries, tackling trafficking at the source. It absolutely shows how development assistance safeguards people and safeguards people’s lives. Over recent years, because this is no longer integrated in the way it once was, we have gone backwards and, with that, our international standing on this issue has also regressed. Sadly, I do think this is right.

There are many issues around illegal migration that rightly need to be tackled, and the Government have to find all the right ways to do that. That is why, through the Nationality and Borders Act last year, we brought in temporary protection measures because it is right that we give the care and support to genuine victims. This was down to hon. Friends who spent time with me as Home Secretary, including my right hon. Friend the Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Sir Iain Duncan Smith), my hon. Friend the Member for Wellingborough and others, who made this case. I worked with the Centre for Social Justice on this matter, and the various commissioners obviously made this point clearly.

In the interests of time, I want to make two quick points. We must work comprehensively and thoroughly to bring offenders to justice, and our laws are too weak on this—they really are. On the level of prosecutions, there was a targeted measure in the Nationality and Borders Act last year to ensure that small boat pilots would be focused on for prosecution, obviously through the right way. Our National Crime Agency, which my hon. Friend mentioned, deserves great credit. Much of the work it does is based on securing intelligence information that can be disclosed only in court for prosecution purposes. The agency’s work in this country must be reinforced and bolstered at every single level.

My last point is about supporting the victims. They are victims of horrendous and heinous crimes. I am delighted that the Victims and Prisoners Bill will come forward today—I have been going on about it for over a decade. This is where we must work together to ensure that the victims of human trafficking and modern-day slavery are given support in the criminal justice system, and that the laws are strengthened to ensure the prosecutions take place. My hon. Friend highlighted the frankly derisory figures on sentences and prosecutions. We must change that, and this House can do that.

The other area to touch on for victims is statutory services. The care for adults is good, but we have institutional state failure on the approach for children where local authorities are allowing children to abscond. It then becomes a policing issue, and it should not just be about the police. Our statutory services must step up. Mental health services, housing services and trauma-informed approaches must be embedded.

I know the Minister has been working assiduously on this issue, but we must start to hear further details on what work is taking place across Government to ensure that victims are given support and to bring forward the reforms required to give them justice.

[Mr Clive Betts (in the Chair)]

It is seven minutes each for the remaining speakers, so that we start the wind-ups at 10.28 am.

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[Giles Watling (Clacton) (Con)]

It is an honour to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Betts. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Wellingborough (Mr Bone) on bringing forward this important debate and speaking so powerfully. Since Kindertransport and before, right through to those coming from Afghanistan and Ukraine today, we are proud in this country to give people safe haven, and we must continue to do so.

I will focus on the boats. As a yachtsman, I am well aware of the dangers of crossing open waters. On 23 September last year, I was crossing the channel—quite legally—and I saw the French warship Athos behaving in the most extraordinary fashion. I looked on the navigation device and saw that it was circling, and it kept circling as it left the French coast towards the UK coast. It was circling around a very small boat crowded with people. When we got closer, we could see those people; they were in a desperate condition. What horrified me about that particular incident was that the French warship was just circling them. I am a yachtsman; I am a seaman. That is what I do. What we do is take desperate people off those boats and make sure they are safe. I have the evidence on my phone right here.

We must stop that sort of thing happening. Stopping illegal boats is a matter of common humanity. As my right hon. Friend the Member for Witham (Priti Patel) said, 39 people lost their lives in the back of a trailer, so it is not just the boats in south Essex. That is because of our weak borders. The cost to the taxpayer is enormous because of this Home Office malfunction, as I see it. It is not acceptable. I believe something like £7 million per day is spent on hotel fees, which is outrageous, but we are looking to address this. We have to show humanity about it.

Locally, at a party conference last year I was contacted by the chief executive of my local council. He told me that he had been given 24 hours’ notice, at a weekend, that we were going to have a migrant hotel suddenly opened upon us. The council did not have time to get services in line. Those people would need help. It was a question of putting desperate people in a deprived place. This was not nimbyism; the local council had identified other, more suitable sites, but the company that the Home Office had employed had decided to open that site within 24 hours.

Fortunately, by working with officials and asking an urgent question in the Chamber, I was able to get that particular incident stopped. We are dealing with this with a scattergun approach. We are being reactive as the incidents happen. We cannot go on like this. We cannot keep fighting a rearguard action. For the sake of humanity, and for the sake of the taxpayers of Clacton and elsewhere, we must stop the boats. That means backing the new Government measures, which have been laid out here today, and making the Home Office more logistically competent. In my view, and I have said this several times before, that means liaising with our French counterparts and getting British boots on the ground in France. We can do this. I am sure our French counterparts would like to see it. That would stop the boats leaving those beaches, and prevent the horror that so many people go through. We saw a child on a beach in Kent, and we never want to see that again.

[Mr Clive Betts (in the Chair)]

I thank all hon. Members for keeping to time. We will move on to the wind-ups now. Each Front-Bench speaker has 10 minutes, or effectively 11, given that we have a bit of extra time.

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[Holly Lynch (Halifax) (Lab)]

It is always a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East (Stuart C. McDonald). I will start, as others have, by paying tribute to and thanking the hon. Member for Wellingborough (Mr Bone) for securing the debate. In addition, I thank him for all the campaigning work that he has done in this policy area. He shared powerful examples of where the failures in the system have further compounded the risk, particularly for children, of being re-trafficked. I also join him from the outset in paying tribute to the incredible work of Justice and Care, which has had a transformative effect. I have had the opportunity to see their victim navigators in West Yorkshire and the tremendous impact that they have had in supporting victims and securing prosecutions.

 We know that the number of victims of these heinous crimes is increasing. My hon. Friend the Member for Rotherham (Sarah Champion), like almost every Member who has contributed to the debate, made the point that we were once so proud of our modern slavery laws, but, as we have just heard, we seem to be taking backward steps in identifying victims and supporting them through to the prosecution of their abusers. Nearly 17,000 potential victims were referred to the NRM in 2022—a 33% increase on the previous year—but charities have predicted, using police data, that there could be at least 100,000 victims in the UK.

I want to share the story of Sanu, who was tricked into living and working in slave-like conditions in the UK. For seven years, he was beaten, threatened and given no wages for the constant work he did in his trafficker’s shop. He had had to beg for money and food. Now he is living in a Salvation Army safe house where the support he is receiving is helping him to overcome his ordeal.

Sanu told the Salvation Army:

“I came to the UK to study. That was my goal…I worked at least 50 to 60 hours a week and sometimes 90 to 100. I would start at 8 o’clock and have to carry on until he said I could leave. I wasn’t allowed to go anywhere; no mobile phone. I couldn’t go to the GP. He said if you talk to anyone then the police will come and get you…My trafficker knew I had nowhere to stay and no other friends. He knew how to control me. He controlled me like in a video game with a remote controller…Every minute every second he took from me. Even now I can still be scared. What happened to me is all wrong. I still have trauma and nightmares…I try to sleep but I still see his face, it is like he’s still chasing me.”

I do not need to tell the Members who are here in Westminster Hall that when we talk about victims, we are not solely talking about foreign nationals. The reporting of British victims to the NRM is rising, and 2022 saw the highest number of British possible victims identified since the NRM began. Most of those, as we have heard, were children. In 2022, one NRM referral in five was for a British child, and many more British children are thought to be vulnerable. Research suggests that there is a failure to refer many British victims to the NRM because they are not identified as victims of modern slavery or because of missed opportunities to safeguard them.

In the face of such a crisis, we need a system that finds victims, protects them, supports them and helps them to rebuild their lives, but as things stand that is not happening. Many victims never access the NRM support system, and if they do, there are huge delays in decision making. That means that many are stuck in the system, receiving wildly varying quality of care and unable to move through. Once people are confirmed as victims, there are few meaningful support mechanisms to help them rebuild their lives, and the impact of that on their mental health must not be understated.

How do we ensure that those vulnerable victims are reached and receive help once they have been identified? We desperately need to improve the first responder role. Effective, informed training and safeguarding procedures are needed to ensure that victims do not slip through the net. Training and policies need to include increasing understanding of the specific needs, circumstances and entitlements of British national victims, improving the transition from child to adult services, and the development of professional modern slavery risk assessment tools for British nationals.

Let me look at how we can improve the decision-making process. Decision makers must have modern slavery understanding, expertise and experience. Evidence from pilot schemes that have devolved the decision making away from the Home Office shows that the pilots look to have generated impressive results. The processing is speeded up, and any conflict of interest for the Home Office is removed. A multi-agency approach, and the broad knowledge and wisdom that come with it, could improve decision making for victims—certainly those with complex needs.

The key to truly ending these terrible crimes is to lock up the traffickers—a point about which the former Home Secretary, the right hon. Member for Witham (Priti Patel), spoke powerfully. We know that the number of victims is increasing, but prosecution rates are shamefully low. Ministry of Justice statistics show that in 2021 there were only 93 prosecutions and 33 convictions in cases in which modern slavery was the principal offence.

Proper support enables modern slavery victims to engage in securing the prosecution of traffickers. Support for victims, including victim navigators, whose incredible work I have had the opportunity to see, is central to successful convictions.

I want to talk about a case study that was shared in The Guardian this week by investigative reporter Annie Kelly. Julia is a Ukrainian survivor of human trafficking and sexual exploitation. She was tricked into coming to the UK under the false promise of legitimate hotel work. For five years, she was controlled by criminal gangs who had seized her passport and forced her to engage in prostitution. She had no control over who she saw or what she was expected to do. Desperate to support her child back in Ukraine and unable to speak English, Julia says she felt trapped by her immigration status and her debt. When she was rescued by the police, she began to build a relationship with a victim navigator, who supported her. Julia, with the victim navigator’s support, worked with the police, and her bravery has resulted in the establishment of an international taskforce, the identification of 120 other female victims and the conviction of five exploiters. Julia is now recovering and rebuilding her life.

Julia’s story and research from charities on the frontline make it clear that consistent support means that victims engage with police investigations. That support needs to come first, to create stability and confidence, and the evidence backs this up. The final evaluation of Justice and Care’s victim navigator pilot scheme found that between September 2018 and June 2022, 92% of survivors who were supported engaged with police, compared with just 44% of survivors without a victim navigator. Twenty exploiters were convicted, 38 prosecutions of accused exploiters were supported and the total sentences for convicted offenders amounted to 178 years and eight months. Between 2018 and 2020, all 62 adult survivors receiving long-term support through one of the Home Office local authority pathways pilot schemes supported a police investigation.

The public are very much ahead of the Government on this; they recognise the connection between supporting victims and bringing offenders to justice. Recent polling for the CSJ and Justice and Care revealed that 82% of the people asked agreed that more Government support for victims of modern slavery is needed to bring more criminal gangs to justice. All of this goes to show that if Government were serious about convicting traffickers, they would be serious about support for victims, but as others have said over the past two days, the Government’s legislation will make it much worse.

The Illegal Migration Bill will have a devastating impact on victims of modern slavery. This is a quote from a letter by the CEOs of organisations that support people through the modern slavery victim care contract:

“Were this bill to come into effect, we fear that many of these survivors would be denied the opportunities to rebuild their lives and reclaim their autonomy.

This bill will do nothing to break cycles of exploitation or help people break free of modern slavery. Instead, it will feed the criminal networks who profit from the lives of vulnerable people. It is essential that genuine victims of modern slavery are afforded the right to seek support.

Furthermore, by closing the route to safety and support, the Illegal Migration Bill risks strengthening the hands of trafficking networks. Traffickers keep people under their control with threats that they will not receive help if they reach out to the authorities. This bill will substantiate this claim and further dissuade survivors from coming forward…Failure to support survivors will result in an undermining of criminal investigations and prosecutions.”

Modern slavery referrals are only a small proportion of overall illegal migration and asylum claims. As the Centre for Social Justice states, only 7% of small boat arrivals since 2018 have been referred to the modern slavery national referral mechanism.

I join the hon. Member for Wellingborough in stressing how disappointed we are that Dame Sara Thornton, who was incredibly effective as the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner, left the post in April last year and it has been vacant for nearly a year. That is unacceptable, and I urge the Minister to update the House on why it has not been a priority for this Government and how they intend to correct that.

We agree with the hon. Member for Thurrock (Jackie Doyle-Price) that cuckooing is an abhorrent crime. We welcome the Government’s commitment this week to engage with stakeholders on a new offence, but I urge them to move forward as a matter of urgency to protect people who might be subject to such a degree of abuse.

It is right that we try to stop the dangerous crossings—the human cost is so great—but brutal and cruel targeting of vulnerable victims is not the right path, and I hope the Minister has understood that.

[Mr Clive Betts (in the Chair)]

Could the Minister finish by 10.58 am to allow Peter Bone to do a short wind-up at the end?

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[Miss Dines]

The hon. Lady makes an important point. It is exactly about the pull factor, and not necessarily just because of gender-specific professions or exploitation, such as cannabis farms or the sexual arena. We must be careful about the pull factor; when he was giving evidence yesterday, the Prime Minister said that the pull factor is a big factor and we must be careful. When concerns are expressed about changing the present regime, as has been elucidated over the past two days in the main Chamber, we must be cautious because, as the Prime Minister said, we do not want to create a pull factor, whether it is for children or a particular class or group of individuals who may be running the criminal activities or being exploited in the way that the hon. Lady said. That is really important.

I know that cuckooing is close to the hearts of several Members who have spoken today, particularly my hon. Friend the Member for Thurrock (Jackie Doyle-Price). The Government fully recognise the exploitation and degradation associated with that pernicious practice and are determined to tackle it. The Home Office-funded National County Lines Co-ordination Centre has identified all national law enforcement initiatives designed to tackle cuckooing, and the Government are actively considering whether new legislation is needed. It is an important item under consideration, because it is a most dreadful crime. We really need to protect the most vulnerable in our society. The Government’s recently issued antisocial behaviour action plan will engage stakeholders, and I am hopeful that there will be a new criminal offence in this area.

I know that hon. Members also feel keenly about victim support. The United Kingdom continues to meet its obligations to support victims of modern slavery as a signatory of the Council of Europe convention on action against trafficking in human beings, or ECAT. The support given by this Government is unparalleled, and indeed a world leader, valued at over £300 million over a five-year period. As we all know, the Home Office funds the modern slavery victim care contract, which supports victims in England and Wales to give them access to vital support they need to assist with their recovery. That includes, as has been mentioned today, access to safehouse accommodation, financial support and a dedicated support worker.

The Government are committed to ensuring that the national referral mechanism effectively supports both victims to recover and the prosecution of their exploiters. Statistics show that the better someone is supported, the more likely they are to give evidence and bring their exploiter to justice through the Crown. We made it clear in the Nationality and Borders Act 2022—as a former Home Secretary, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witham, is keenly aware of this—that where a public authority, such as the police, is pursuing an investigation or criminal proceedings, confirmed victims who co-operate and need to remain in the UK in order to do so will be granted temporary permission to stay for as long as they are required to be in the UK to support the investigation.

I will turn briefly—I have only three minutes left—to child victims. Concern has been voiced that adults get better care, and there appears to be some evidence of that and of care being patchy across the country. That must be addressed by local authorities, other stakeholders and mental health services. As the safeguarding Minister, I am concerned if young people are less effectively protected when they are in the care of the state. Sometimes children are less protected than adults and that cannot be allowed to continue. The Government are working very hard and other options are being considered.

The Government have, to their credit, rolled out independent child trafficking guardians to two thirds of local authorities in England and Wales, but more needs to be done. Those guardians are an effective and additional source of advice for trafficked children, and they can advocate on the children’s behalf. We know from the debate that that approach has been successful. A staggered approach to roll-out has been adopted, with robust built-in evaluations along the way to make sure the service meets the demands of vulnerable children. That must evolve to do better.

We will continue to review how the needs of individual children are best met through the programme. We must not allow children to be taken away from a place of safety—a children’s home or a foster placement—to be abused and then brought back in. That simply cannot be tolerated. Local authorities must work harder and in close co-operation with the police. Across the country, there must be no area—ethnic or geographical—where standards are not good. We will work harder to protect child victims.

In the debate, right hon. and hon. Members said clearly that a commissioner must be appointed. The Home Secretary recognises the importance of the role of the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner and has launched a new open competition to recruit for the role. The advert for the role went live last month and the advertising has just concluded. The process is going as quickly as possible. It is hoped that all necessary steps will be taken in a short period and that the best person for the role will be recruited. There will be news very soon. The position has improved from a few months ago when there was not even a competition. I can reassure the House that there is movement in that area.

In our modern slavery strategy, we are still regarded as a world leader. The Illegal Migration Bill is essential to make sure that our borders are properly protected and that criminal gangs do not bring people into exploitation. There is a need for reform. I need to wind up, so I cannot say as much as I wanted to, but I will say that there will be protection, and vulnerable people will not be removed unless the disqualifications under the Nationality and Borders Act apply. I am able to commit to a meeting, as hon. Members asked.

The points raised by my right hon. Friends the Members for Maidenhead and for Chingford and Woodford Green (Sir Iain Duncan Smith) were addressed in yesterday’s debate by the Minister for Immigration, who stated that there is evidence that, unfortunately, the Modern Slavery Act has enabled some false applications. The 3,500 referrals envisaged on the passing of the Act have risen to 17,000 referrals and there is evidence of abuse of the system. In 2021, 73% of people who arrived on small boats and were detained for removal made modern slavery claims, so more needs to be done, but I can commit to ensure that genuine victims are discussed in a meeting with the Immigration Minister and interested parties.

[Mr Clive Betts (in the Chair)]

Peter Bone has less than one minute to wind up.