Modern Slavery Act 2015 Committee Report

Lord Randall of Uxbridge Excerpts

Friday 28th March 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Randall of Uxbridge (Con)]

My Lords, I start by declaring my interest as the chair of the Human Trafficking Foundation. I echo all the comments from the noble Baroness, Lady O’Grady of Upper Holloway, particularly about the committee, committee members, staff and those who gave evidence. I also pay tribute to the noble Baroness, Lady O’Grady, not just for her excellent speech, but because, although she came in to chair the committee at short notice, her expertise has been really well received. She is now committed to this cause, as all those who are new to the subject committee will be.

Yesterday, there was a debate in the other place to mark the exact date 10 years ago that the Modern Slavery Act was passed. Favourable comments were made about the now noble Baroness, Lady May, and Dame Karen Bradley MP, who was the Minister taking it through. I am delighted to see in his place behind me my noble friend Lord Bates, who was the Minister who took the Modern Slavery Act through the House of Lords.

Some 10 years since the passing of the Modern Slavery Act, I have somewhat conflicted emotions. I am immensely proud of what we achieved in that landmark legislation, yet I am deeply frustrated that still, despite a decade of progress, the scourge of modern slavery still persists and our work in combating it is far from complete. The problem is that we find more and more examples of modern slavery all the time, and therefore we have more and more work to do.

The Committee came up with some very important conclusions. One of the things that struck me—I knew this before, but I was pleased to see it echoed—was how modern slavery, as an issue, has slipped down the political agenda—particularly, as was just mentioned, by the conflation between illegal migration and human trafficking. I was very frustrated with some of the legislation that was put through which did not endear me to my Whips—perhaps it should be the other way; I did not find myself endeared to them.

In many ways, modern slavery makes us all complicit in it—how many of us can say with absolute certainty that the clothes we wear, the food we eat and the electronics we use are entirely free from exploitation? That is deeply troubling to me as a citizen and a consumer, and it troubles many people.

Modern slavery intersects with every aspect of society. It may be a hidden crime. We do not need to look hard to see it to become apparent and visible in our everyday lives. Trying to eradicate slavery from the supply chains, as the noble Baroness, Lady O’Grady, said, may be difficult but it is an absolutely fundamental issue that we really have to grasp.

The Modern Slavery Act introduced measures to ensure companies of a certain size produced modern slavery statements, but sadly this is just not happening.

Modern slavery also intersects with many of the Government’s own missions. We know that exploitation in the construction industry is high, and I would encourage them that mitigating the risk should be a key consideration in the plan to build the 1.5 million new homes we have been promised. When it comes to much needed green energy, it cannot be built on the back of forced labour.

Sadly, the Government cannot say that they were not warned by this House, because only this week they had an opportunity to prevent exploitation in the new Great British Energy supply chain. As expertly put by the noble Lord, Lord Offord, blocking companies found to be using forced labour

“does not create unnecessary bureaucracy or hinder investment; it simply ensures that taxpayers’ money does not fund exploitation”.—[Official Report, 11/2/25; col. 1175.]

This needs to be our focus. Ensuring that we are not all made complicit in enabling this crime and allowing it to be business as usual is fundamental.

At this moment it is business as usual. The Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority has not been properly resourced to proactively investigate and enforce proper labour practices. If, as we have heard, the proposed fair work agency faces the same levels of underresourcing, we are simply repackaging the problem. Proper investment and a clear plan on how it will operate are needed.

If we say that there will be consequences for forced labour, let us mean it. I point out to Ministers that the Government are fining hand car washes for non-registered workers, and yet only 5% of those fines are being collected—money that I think the Government not only need but could use for these resources.

We currently live in a society where victims of modern slavery are growing our food, caring for the elderly, propping up society and creating two tiers: people who are being exploited and people who benefit from this exploitation. I do not think anyone in this Chamber wants to be on either side of the coin.

Minister Jess Phillips, who spoke yesterday in the other place, is a real champion of fighting this scourge and has made a real difference. We will achieve this only if we have cross-party support and go forward to try to eradicate this, and get back to our position as a world leader.