Oral Answers to Questions

Joan Ryan Excerpts
Thursday 7th June 2018

(6 years, 5 months ago)

Commons Chamber
Read Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Joan Ryan Portrait Joan Ryan (Enfield North) (Lab)
- Hansard - -

Additional powers are all well and good, but without additional resources, local authorities can do nothing effective because of the restrictions on their budgets. We have a particular problem in Enfield with things such as tyres and with skip companies not following legislation. It is difficult for the council to prosecute when resources are so tight, so what is the Minister going to do?

George Eustice Portrait George Eustice
- Hansard - - - Excerpts

All such sites are covered by a permitting regime that is run by the Environment Agency. We have put £60 million of extra money into the Environment Agency in recent years, including £30 million in the past year to deal with these sorts of problems.

--- Later in debate ---
The right hon. Member for Meriden, representing the Church Commissioners, was asked—
Joan Ryan Portrait Joan Ryan (Enfield North) (Lab)
- Hansard - -

1. To ask the right hon. Member for Meriden, representing the Church Commissioners, what progress the Church of England has made on the Clewer initiative to tackle modern-day slavery.

Caroline Spelman Portrait The Second Church Estates Commissioner (Dame Caroline Spelman)
- Hansard - - - Excerpts

The Clewer initiative was set up in 2017 as a three-year, fixed-term project with the express aim of securing a world free from slavery. It enables dioceses to develop strategies so that we can better detect instances of modern slavery and provide support and care to victims.

Joan Ryan Portrait Joan Ryan
- Hansard - -

I welcome the Church of England’s commitment to tackling modern slavery. Can the right hon. Lady confirm whether the exploitation of vulnerable young people and adults in the county lines drugs trade is also a focus of the Clewer initiative? What work is the Church doing with the police, the Government and other parties to tackle this menace?

Caroline Spelman Portrait Dame Caroline Spelman
- Hansard - - - Excerpts

The Church works very closely with a large number of partners in order to try to stamp out modern-day slavery, including the Licensed Taxi Drivers Association, the National Crime Agency, the National Police Chiefs Council and immigration service officers—all the parties that need to be involved. The exploitation of very young, vulnerable children in trafficking drugs for illegal gangmasters is something that all these agencies need to work together on, and the Church supports that strongly.