Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether their department plans to collect and publish data on the number of modern slavery and human trafficking police investigations, after this is no longer done by the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s Modern Slavery and Organised Immigration Crime Unit.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Department has been working closely with the Modern Slavery and Organised Immigration Crime Unit (MSOICU) to review the programme’s functions and agree contingency arrangements to ensure key functions are preserved following the programme’s closure. This includes the collection of modern slavery police investigation data.
The current investigations data only provides a partial and incomplete picture, as not all forces submit returns. Once in post, we will work with the new National Police Chiefs Council lead to consider the most effective approach to collecting consistent data on modern slavery investigations in the future.
As part of the wider police reforms, national strategic policing priorities will be developed to improve policing standards and performance. The Home Office will consider how modern slavery measures and data collection can be reflected within these.
We will continue to draw on data already collected by the Home Office, Crown Prosecution Service and the Ministry of Justice, including data on recorded offences and criminal justice outcomes, to support our understanding of modern slavery trends and performance.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of Greenpeace’s report entitled Equity, Benefit-Sharing and Financial Architecture in the International Seabed Area.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government keeps its policies in relation to climate, nature and marine protection under regular review, informed by a wide range of stakeholder views and expert analyses, including those mentioned by the Hon Member.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the working group on fur, announced in the Animal Welfare Strategy, will include virologists and environmental scientists with expertise in the public health and environmental impacts of fur farming.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As set out in the animal welfare strategy, Defra will bring together a working group on fur, with involvement from both industry experts and those who support restrictions on the trade in fur to explore concerns and the different ways in which they could be addressed.
The primary focus of the group will be to explore animal welfare concerns relating to the fur trade. Defra is currently developing arrangements for the working group including its membership. Defra will seek appropriate input from relevant experts as needed as part of this.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of requiring remote electronic monitoring systems on all pelagic freezer trawlers of 100 meters or more operating in English waters, including EU-flagged vessels.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra has laid out plans to implement REM in five priority fisheries in English waters, including pelagic trawls, over 24m, operating in English waters. This fishery includes pelagic freezer trawlers over 100m.
The fisheries were selected via an evidence review. The pelagic fishery was selected as a priority fishery for REM, based on an assessment of:
Once REM becomes a statutory requirement, all vessels, including EU-flagged vessels, active in the fishery will be required to have REM on board.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure a coordinated national policing response to modern slavery, in the context of the removal of funding for the Modern Slavery and Organised Immigration Crime Unit.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Modern slavery crimes are complex to investigate and prosecute, and ensuring a consistent and coordinated national policing response to modern slavery remains a priority for the Home Office.
The Department has been working closely with the Modern Slavery and Organised Immigration Crime Unit (MSOICU) and the National Crime Agency (NCA) to review the programme’s functions and agree contingency arrangements to ensure key functions are preserved to maintain national coordination following the programme’s closure.
This includes an issuing an expression of interest to appoint a new National Police Chief Council (NPCC) lead for modern slavery to continue to provide national leadership on the policing response to modern slavery. Once appointed, the Home Office will work closely with the NPCC lead to ensure modern slavery remains a policing priority and will continue to provide policy oversight of the operational response.
As part of the wider police reforms, national strategic policing priorities will be developed to improve policing standards and performance. The Home Office will consider how modern slavery measures can be reflected within these.