Draft Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Act 2015 (Consequential provisions and modifications) Order 2016

Michael Ellis Excerpts

Tuesday 13th September 2016 General Committees

[The Deputy Leader of the House of Commons (Michael Ellis)]

I beg to move,

That the Committee has considered the draft Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Act 2015 (Consequential Provisions and Modifications) Order 2016.

May I say what a pleasure it is to serve under your chairmanship, Mr McCabe? The draft order was laid before the House on 11 July 2016. If it pleases the Committee, I will briefly put the order in context before setting out what it does. I think that it will be highly uncontroversial, given that there is unlikely to be much air between the parties on the matter, but it is important.

The order is made under section 104 of the Scotland Act 1998, which allows for necessary or expedient changes to legislation in consequence of an Act of the Scottish Parliament. That is what has happened here: the Scottish Parliament has passed an Act and we are seeking to make expedient changes for its operation in England. The order is made in consequence of the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Act 2015, which was passed by the Scottish Parliament on 1 October 2015 and received Her Majesty’s Assent on 4 November. The Act consolidates and strengthens the existing criminal law in Scotland against human trafficking and exploitation, and it enhances the status and support for victims of those heinous crimes.

The 2015 Act that was passed by the Scottish Parliament is in six parts, which I will address briefly. Part 1 introduces two new criminal offences: one is a single offence of human trafficking for all types of exploitation; the other is a new offence of slavery, servitude and forced or compulsory labour. Those replace existing criminal offences in Scots law that deal with similar conduct. The maximum penalty of 14 years for human trafficking has now been increased to life imprisonment.

Part 2 provides for the support and assistance to which adult and child victims of human trafficking are entitled. Part 3 deals with the confiscation of property and the proceeds of crime. Part 4 introduces two new prevention and risk orders, as they are called, in Scotland: the trafficking and exploitation prevention orders, and the trafficking and exploitation risk orders. The Act also places a duty on Scottish Ministers to prepare a trafficking and exploitation strategy.

This order updates existing UK legislation to give the Scottish Parliament’s 2015 Act full effect; to reflect the new Scottish offences; to ensure that the relevant powers—this is a key point—of UK immigration officers are updated in line with what has happened under the Act in Scotland, so that they are able to detain vehicles, ships and aircraft when a person or persons have been arrested for the offence of human trafficking; and to reflect the new powers conferred on the police under the 2015 Act, which are welcome.

The proposed changes are consequential and have not raised any objections. For example, the order updates references to existing Scottish offences in relevant legislation applying in other parts of the UK. These changes, which are primarily to the Modern Slavery Act 2015 but also to the Immigration Act 1971 and the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, etc.) Act 2004, will refer to the new single offence of human trafficking and the new offence of slavery, servitude and forced or compulsory labour in Scottish legislation. They will then allow the repeal of existing offences.

The order will enable English and Welsh courts—it applies, of course, to England and Wales—to enforce the two new Scottish trafficking and exploitation prevention and risk orders. That will ensure a joined-up approach and robust enforcement, which is what we all want for such serious offences. It will also implement the policy intention of some aspects of the Modern Slavery Act that relate to Scotland, by ensuring the scope of the UK’s independent anti-slavery commissioner’s work, and the duty of large companies to report on transparency and supply chains, are both updated so that, in Scotland, these flow from the new Scottish offences.

Finally, the UK and Scottish Governments—Ministers and officials—have been working closely together, as would be expected, to ensure that the order makes the necessary amendments to UK legislation in consequence of the Scottish Parliament’s 2015 Act. There is mutual respect here and I believe that the order demonstrates the UK Government’s continued and very important commitment to working with the Scottish Government to make the devolution settlement work.

I hope that you will agree, Mr McCabe, that the order is an appropriate use of the powers in the Scotland Act 1998, and that the practical result is very much to be welcomed. I commend the order to the Committee.

--- Later in debate ---

[Michael Ellis]

I very much welcome what the hon. Member for Lanark and Hamilton East said. It is reassuring to see cross-party support on something as important as this—there is very little controversy about the measure, and rightly so. We need to get it right and the authorities in Scotland have clearly worked hard to do so, in consultation with many.

I heard the shadow Minister’s representations on definitions and consultations. With regard to wider consultation, the reality is that the Scottish Parliament’s 2015 Act was the subject of numerous reports, inquiries and consultations. The Scottish Government drew on the analysis and recommendations in all those reports to inform the Act. I can assure him that they have taken the same approach with this order.

As for the hon. Gentleman’s point about the definition of the word “travel”, we are content that it is compliant with international obligations. The matters have been perused by the appropriate authorities, and the Scottish Government have indicated to the UK Government that they are content and that it meets international obligations.

[Mr Anderson]

I accept that the point about travel has been resolved and that the Government acted on the concerns that were raised. The issue was more about the definition of

“slavery, servitude and forced or compulsory labour.”

I hope that the Minister or his civil servants will advise that there is a definition in this place that covers the same things in Scotland, but I just wanted to make sure that we do not leave a loophole that could be exploited.

[Michael Ellis]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for exploring the matter, because clearly it is crucial. Lawyers—I was one before I came to this place—will always look for loopholes where they can find them and definitions have to be very carefully considered and tightly demarcated, otherwise they provide undesirable opportunities to exploit any lacunae that might exist within them. I am very confident that the authorities have considered that carefully and that legal representations have been sought. I am assured that numerous reports, inquiries and consultations have taken place, and I can only assume that they will have included legal representations. I hope that reassures the hon. Gentleman.

Question put and agreed to.