King’s Speech (4th Day)

Lord Bishop of Bristol Excerpts

Monday 22nd July 2024 Lords Chamber

[The Lord Bishop of Bristol]

My Lords, it is a great pleasure to follow the noble Lords, Lord Howarth and Lord O’Neill, and to welcome and congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Vallance, and greet him as the granddaughter of a Cornish man and a Scilly woman, as my father rather cheekily determined it.

I preface my remarks by welcoming, in an adjunct to the gracious Speech, the Government’s proposal to renew the Lords Spiritual (Women) Act, and I should declare my interest as I am a Member who benefits from its current provisions. But it is on modern slavery that I wish to focus my remarks this evening as, in the labour exploitation that we have seen increasingly in the areas of agriculture, domestic work and social care, there is growth that we should not seek and indeed need to guard against. As your Lordships know, modern slavery is a crime which affects every community in the UK. It is not a niche issue. It is estimated that 130,000 people are held in modern slavery in our country today, and we are used to hearing about day-to-day transactions where there is exploitation in car washes, manicurists or, increasingly, in accessing social care.

I must start this debate with a belief in the inherent dignity of work and the right of all workers to receive fair payment for their labour, free from exploitation. I applaud the work of many Members of this House and the former Government for their genuine commitment to tackling this terrible crime. The 2015 Modern Slavery Act was by no means a perfect piece of legislation, but it signalled real political intent. We have a world-leading national referral mechanism which supports thousands of victims every year. I am proud of the progress that the UK has made but, while there is much to applaud, there have been concerning developments as well. The Nationality and Borders Act, the Illegal Migration Act and, most recently, the safety of Rwanda Act have all put victims of modern slavery at further risk. This is particularly true where migrant victims are imprisoned, often due to criminal exploitation, and can be subject to a public order disqualification. Can the Minister tell the House what the plans are for these various pieces of legislation as they affect migrant victims of modern slavery? If he cannot do so now, will he commit to do so in the future?

Alongside international trade in human beings is domestic exploitation of human beings, particularly through county lines, and I applaud the ambition to introduce a new offence for criminal exploitation of young people. The need for a clear definition of child criminal exploitation is something which I and many on these Benches supported before in this House. However, I am disappointed that modern slavery was not directly referenced at all in the gracious Speech.

Several noble Lords have mentioned shortages of labour in various sectors and, as many have said, nowhere is this more acute than in our social care sector to which we entrust the lives and well-being of some of the most vulnerable in our society. Last year, nearly one in 10 roles in adult social care stood vacant. There is clearly an acute need for a clear strategy to fill vacancies and deal with issues of recruitment and retention in the workforce. However, it is unacceptable that gaps in the social care sector have led to a rise in labour exploitation. We have recently seen reports that modern slavery is surging in this sector, with nearly one in five potential victims who calls the modern slavery helpline working in social care. Restricted, temporary work visas are creating the conditions for labour exploitation, especially as anyone on a health and care or skilled worker visa has just 60 days to obtain a new visa, during which time they have no access to public funds. To tackle exploitation, we should start by making work visas more flexible so that workers are not trapped in exploitative conditions.

Work must have dignity and give people purpose. I applaud the Government’s ambition to strengthen workers’ rights and will continue to seek reassurance that we will end the abhorrent practice of modern slavery for good.