Trafficking in Human Beings

Damian Green Excerpts

Monday 9th May 2011 Commons Chamber

[The Minister for Immigration (Damian Green)]

I beg to move,

That this House takes note of European Union Document No. PE-CONS 69/10, relating to the Directive of the European Parliament and the Council on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings and protecting its victims, replacing Council Framework Decision 2002/629/JHA; and supports the Government’s intention to apply to opt in post-adoption under Article 4 of Protocol 21 on the position of the UK and Ireland in respect of the area of freedom, security and justice.

I thank members of the European Scrutiny Committee for giving us the opportunity to set out why the Government wish to opt in to the EU directive on human trafficking and the benefits it will bring to the UK. I hope that this debate will secure the Committee’s support for this important measure, which I believe further strengthens the UK’s position on tackling human trafficking. I also welcome this debate as a step forward for parliamentary scrutiny. We welcome the Committee’s consideration of the Government’s intention to opt in and its detailed report, in which the Committee acknowledged that the objective of preventing and combating trafficking cannot be sufficiently achieved by member states alone and can, by reason of both its scale and effects, be better achieved by action at EU level. Our intention to opt in is consistent with that view.

I know that Committee members recognise that human trafficking is an abuse of human rights that feeds on the exploitation of victims—men, women and children. The victims of this appalling crime are mere commodities in the hands of organised crime groups, and their exploitation causes severe and lasting harm. We are clear that tackling this crime is of the highest priority. Human trafficking is a complex, covert and cross-border crime that demands an international response. The UK is a world leader in its anti-trafficking work, but that does not mean that we should stand still. Rather, we have a responsibility to lead the way in the fight against trafficking and develop increasingly sophisticated responses to the changing nature of the organised crime landscape.

[Keith Vaz (Leicester East) (Lab)]

Does the Minister welcome the recent developments in the EU that will provide for more border checks within the Schengen area? When the Select Committee on Home Affairs last reported on this, it found that traffickers could pass through the Schengen area without being stopped. These new arrangements, which the EU seems to be putting in place, will mean more checks within the area, which might mean that we catch more people involved in this terrible crime.

[Damian Green]

The right hon. Gentleman might well be right. However, it would be unhelpful for me to comment generally on the developments in the Schengen area that, as he and the House will know, might be introduced as a result of events in north Africa. Certainly, however, I agree with the general proposition that each EU member state has to consider its own border arrangements and internal policing arrangements to make it easier for all of us to work together on an international basis in combating what is by definition an international crime. That means that to deal with this problem we have to work closely with our international partners, and applying to opt in to the directive is a positive step that Britain can take towards this goal.

As the House will be aware, we chose not to opt in to the directive when it was initially put on the table last summer, because the draft text had to go through an extensive period of negotiation between the European Council and the European Parliament. We wanted to be absolutely sure that the text would not change during those negotiations in a way that would be detrimental to the integrity of the UK’s criminal justice system. We wanted to consider a final text that had no risks attached and would not fundamentally change the UK’s already strong position in the fight against human trafficking.

[Mark Tami (Alyn and Deeside) (Lab)]

Does the Minister not think that it sends a negative message that we have taken so long to sign up?

[Damian Green]

No, I do not, because once the text was available, we looked at it and made the recommendation very quickly, so there has been no practical delay at all. We have examined in great detail the final text and its impacts on the UK, and have concluded that applying to opt in would benefit the UK as well as—most importantly—the victims of trafficking. Applying to opt in to the directive will maintain our position and will continue to send a signal to traffickers that the UK is very serious about tackling trafficking.

I am absolutely clear, however, that merely applying to opt in is not enough. We have much work to do to ensure that the directive is implemented in an effective way across the UK. There has been great interest in how we will implement certain measures in it, which I will deal with in a moment. The UK already complies with the majority of its measures. We have said from the outset that opting in to the directive will require us to make some legislative changes to ensure full compliance, and we are ready to do that. This will include widening extra-territorial jurisdiction. The directive requires us to establish extra-territorial jurisdiction when the offender is a UK national. It also gives us discretion about whether to establish jurisdiction over cases in which the offender is an habitual resident.

I know that that issue has caused much debate; another is that of child guardians. On this, the directive contains a number of important provisions about assistance and support for child victims of trafficking. We are confident that the UK is compliant with those measures. Local authorities have a statutory duty to ensure that they safeguard and promote the welfare of all children, regardless of their immigration status or nationality. We believe that this responsibility should remain with the local authorities that co-ordinate the arrangements for each child to ensure that they are safe and to promote their welfare.

[Margot James (Stourbridge) (Con)]

Does the Minister agree that local authorities are going to need some training, direction and guidance on this matter? The record of child victims of trafficking disappearing from local authority care very soon after their admission is shocking and disturbing.

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[Damian Green]

I agree that there have been severe difficulties in that regard. My hon. Friend will know that there tends to be a concentration of child victims of trafficking in certain local authorities, and one of the things that encourages me is the way in which local authorities—particularly those that are the most affected—are now learning best practice from each other and getting a grip on the problem of disappearance, which has afflicted many child victims of trafficking. For instance, Hertfordshire has, by adopting new systems, reduced the number of children who disappear from 36 to two in 12 months.

Great improvements are clearly needed, but we have already seen them being made in some local authorities, which are developing the kind of systems that are effective in enabling them to fulfil their statutory duty to protect children. They have comprehensive systems in place to do this, and adding another guardian to that framework would risk creating another level of complexity in arrangements that are already strong and that ensure the best interests of the child. Even worse, it would risk creating confusion for children themselves if plans for their care were not effectively co-ordinated.

[Tom Brake (Carshalton and Wallington) (LD)]

What would be the difference between having an independent reviewing officer and advocate, and having a guardian? Is it the Minister’s view that the combination of an IRO and an advocate amounts to a guardian?

[Damian Green]

That is exactly my view, and having another guardian would be confusing and potentially bureaucratic. Indeed, in discussions with the very energetic all-party group on human trafficking, one of its leading officers, the noble Baroness Butler-Sloss, made the point that when the directive talks about a guardian, it does not, in her view, mean a guardian ad litem—a legal representative of the child—who would deal with the courts, as happens in “normal” child protection issues. The truth is that the concept of the guardian in the directive is slightly vague, and slightly declaratory, and we believe that our present system is already achieving what the directive wants us to achieve.

Another provision that has generated great interest is the idea of a national rapporteur on human trafficking. Again, we believe that we have equivalent mechanisms in place that fulfil that purpose, in the form of the UK Human Trafficking Centre, for data collection, and the inter-departmental ministerial group, for oversight. I recognise the concerns expressed by hon. Members and others that this function should be carried out by an independent body, and I will keep those arguments under consideration.

[Andrew Selous (South West Bedfordshire) (Con)]

I congratulate my hon. Friend on these measures, which are welcomed by many of us. Will he tell us what new police initiatives he envisages as a result of the motion, given the evidence of the success of Operations Pentameter 1, Pentameter 2 and Golf? Focused police effort has made a major difference.

[Damian Green]

My hon. Friend is right to say that good things were done during the focused police action under the two Pentameter operations. One result is that combating trafficking has become much more a part of mainstream police work than it was a few years ago. There will be further developments on the activities of the national crime agency and, more specifically, on the new trafficking strategy that will be announced in the coming weeks. I will come to that in a second, if he will excuse me.

[Mr Peter Bone (Wellingborough) (Con)]

I absolutely welcome the Government’s decision to opt in to the directive, as does the all-party group on human trafficking. We are concerned, however, about the Government’s decision on the rapporteur. I am all European and I like that sort of thing, and I hope that the Government have not closed their mind to the idea. I do not think that the mechanism that the Minister has outlined is good enough.

[Damian Green]

I am sure that the whole House will echo my pleasure at my hon. Friend welcoming this opt-in to a European directive. I cannot say how delighted I am to be on the same side as him in this argument. As I have said, I will listen to the arguments about an independent rapporteur, but I would merely observe that only two EU countries have adopted the mechanism that he favours. It is therefore reasonable to say that the jury is out on whether that is the most appropriate way forward.

I want to be clear that applying to opt in to the directive is only one part of the wide range of work that we are carrying out to tackle trafficking. Despite the difficult financial climate, we have protected funding for adult victims. We have set aside £2 million a year for the next three years to fund support provision for adult victims of human trafficking. As part of our wider work to tackle trafficking, we have introduced a new model for funding specialist support for adult victims. This will ensure that each identified victim receives support tailored to their individual needs and in line with the standards set out in the Council of Europe convention. It will also ensure effective co-ordination and monitoring of the support on offer, while enabling a greater range of service providers to support victims of this crime. These changes will result in a more comprehensive system of care that will take better account of the particular needs of individual victims. The flexibility of the new model will also mean that we are better equipped to meet the victim care requirements contained in the directive.

The strategy on human trafficking will set out in more detail the direction of our work on trafficking, and this will be published shortly. As I have just mentioned to my hon. Friend the Member for South West Bedfordshire (Andrew Selous), the strategy will set out the steps that we will take across four key areas: disrupting trafficking networks before they reach the UK; smarter multi-agency working at the border; more co-ordination of our law enforcement efforts in the United Kingdom; and improved victim care arrangements. As I said during the anti-slavery day debate in the House last October, the strategy will maintain the focus on victims and also put renewed effort into upstream enforcement, without compromising in any way our commitment to victim care. We will continue to work with a range of partners to achieve this. I hope that the House will support the Government’s intention to apply to opt in to the directive, and I commend the motion to the House.

--- Later in debate ---

[Damian Green]

We have seen that this is a matter of considerable importance to everyone in the House this evening, and there has been a remarkable degree of cross-party consensus. I am very reassured by the level of support for our intention to opt in to the directive. The right hon. Member for Leicester East (Keith Vaz) said that it was a unique experience for an Immigration Minister to receive unanimous support from the House, but I think that he was being characteristically understated: the House appears to have given unanimous support for opting in to a European directive. This debate may have been low key, but it is genuinely historic in that regard. In the last few minutes of it, let me address the points that have been raised.

I am grateful for the support of the hon. Member for Slough (Fiona Mactaggart), who speaks for the Opposition. I smiled at her opening remarks, because I remember sitting in her position when the previous Government were deciding whether to opt in to the Council of Europe convention. I spent about 18 months urging them to, and I probably used exactly the same words as she did when I welcomed their decision eventually to do so. I take her point about wanting more referrals under the national referral mechanism, and, as several hon. Members on both sides of the House have said, the new national crime agency and the border command within that will be helpful in toughening up the whole response to trafficking, including the police response to the national referral mechanism.

Several hon. Members questioned the police commitment in certain areas to fight trafficking, and there is more to be done. That is one reason why we are introducing the national crime agency, but in defence of the current system I should say that tackling organised immigration crime is the second-highest priority of the Serious Organised Crime Agency, after fighting drugs, so it is high on the list of those who fight organised crime.

The hon. Lady mentioned the POPPY project, and the Under-Secretary of State for Justice, my hon. Friend the Member for Reigate (Mr Blunt) explained the new system, whereby there is not just a new provider in the Salvation Army, but a new process of using a prime contractor. Different contracting agencies will buy a range of skills, and I hope that that will make the new system less London-centric, as my hon. Friend the Member for Wellingborough (Mr Bone) rightly pointed out.

There were also questions about protection at the railway border, St Pancras, where Eurostars arrive, but I should point out that Operation Paladin, a successful exercise run jointly by the UK Border Agency and the Metropolitan police, operates there, so it is not true to say that the station is a soft spot. Of course, all passengers on those trains will already have gone through controls in France or Belgium, too.

The hon. Lady also asked whether the new protection regime would allow for the challenging of NRM decisions. All support providers are asked to, and helped to, provide information about victims’ experiences and circumstances to the competent authority precisely to ensure that the correct NRM decision is reached and to advocate on behalf of victims in the provision of services. That will continue to be the case under the new contract.

I slightly parted company with the hon. Lady when she said that the process of coming to the new strategy had been slow and confused. I gently point out to her what she, as a former Minister, will know perfectly well: this is the first day for six weeks that the Government have been able to make policy announcements, because we have been in pre-election purdah. That is one reason why the definition of spring in Whitehall is reasonably elastic. We have this period every year when we simply cannot make announcements, but it is now coming to an end.

I am grateful for the general support of my hon. Friend the Member for Carshalton and Wallington (Tom Brake). He asked about forced begging and criminal offences, but the directive requires the UK to criminalise only trafficking. The UK is already compliant with that requirement, subject to the requirements that I mentioned to amend our offences regarding extra-territorial jurisdiction and internal trafficking for labour exploitation. The required penalties for the offence of trafficking are as set out in article 4 of the directive. There is no requirement for any penalties specifically relating to forced begging or any other provisions about forced begging or other offences. I hope that that answers the question. He also talked about legal representation. In the UK, victims of crime are not a party to criminal proceedings and therefore do not need assistance with legal representation.

My hon. Friend mentioned the role of the local press and the acceptance of adverts that many of us would prefer not to see in local papers. I completely agree with the points he made. It has always struck me that this is an example of where consumer power might be useful. If the readers of those newspapers told them that they found such adverts offensive and therefore would not buy the newspapers or products that were advertised in them, I dare say that newspaper groups would stop carrying those adverts.

On the time scale, as I said, we are applying to the Commission to opt in because the directive has already been completed. The Commission has to decide within four months to let us in, which I presume will not be a problem, and then, over a period to be determined by the Commission—a number of years, possibly two—any primary legislative changes will need to be put through this House.

I particularly welcome the remarks of my hon. Friend the Member for Wellingborough about the Salvation Army. I hope that this measure leads to a spread of expertise and a greater tapping into new expertise in helping victims. I am grateful for his kind remarks, and I echo what he said about Anthony Steen and praise his own successor chairmanship of the all-party group on human trafficking.

The hon. Member for Linlithgow and East Falkirk (Michael Connarty) has developed great expertise in these matters. In response to his first remarks, we are seeing the scrutiny procedure working. The substance of this measure is very important, but the process is quite important as well. Proper parliamentary scrutiny of a European directive is leading to a good legislative result in this country, so this is good for Parliament as well.

The hon. Gentleman talked about the number of convictions. Since May 2004, there have been 166 convictions for trafficking, including 153 for trafficking for sexual exploitation, of which three are for conspiracy to traffic. Since December 2004, there have been 13 convictions for labour trafficking and six for conspiracy to traffic. Those figures all run to the end of January this year.

Finally, I am grateful to the hon. Member for Preston (Mark Hendrick) for putting the matter in its proper historical perspective.

The measures set out in the directive very much reflect the existing position in the UK and the work that we are already doing to combat human trafficking. Subject to Parliament and the Commission agreeing with our intention to opt in, I look forward to working closely with the Commission, the practitioners and our corporate partners to implement those measures. It is simply intolerable that in 2011 human trafficking still plagues this country. We should not rest until we have it under better control, and opting in to the directive will mark an important step towards achieving that aim. I commend the motion to the House.

Question put and agreed to.

Resolved,

That this House takes note of European Union Document No. PE-CONS 69/10, relating to the Directive of the European Parliament and the Council on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings and protecting its victims, replacing Council Framework Decision 2002/629/JHA; and supports the Government’s intention to apply to opt in post-adoption under Article 4 of Protocol 21 on the position of the UK and Ireland in respect of the area of freedom, security and justice.