Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have been prosecuted under human trafficking laws in each year since 2010.

The Ministry of Justice publishes information on the number of defendants prosecuted for offences under human trafficking laws, from 2010 to 2022, in the Outcomes by Offence data tool: December 2022, and from year ending June 2011 to the year ending June 2023, in the Outcomes by Offence data tool: June 2023:

Offences under sections 2(1), 4 and 30(1) and 30(3) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 can be found using following HO codes:

• 03608 - Conspire to arrange or facilitate travel of another person with a view to exploitation

• 03610 - Commit offence other than kidnapping or false imprisonment with intent to commit human trafficking offence

• 03611 - Commit offence of kidnapping or false imprisonment with intention of committing human trafficking offence

• 03612 - Breach a slavery and trafficking risk or prevention order

Offences under sections 57, 58, 59, 59A(1) of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 & Offences under sections 4 of the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, etc.) Act 2004 can be found by using following offences:

• 72 Human trafficking for sexual exploitation

• 78.1 Human trafficking for non-sexual exploitation

These can be accessed by navigating to the ‘Prosecutions and convictions’ tab and using the HO Offence Code and Offence filters to select the above offences in the Outcomes by Offence data tool.

In 2015, the UK Government introduced the world-leading Modern Slavery Act, giving law enforcement agencies the tools to tackle trafficking, including maximum life sentences for perpetrators and enhanced protection for victims.

Since the Modern Slavery Act was passed in 2015, we have seen significant law enforcement activity focused on modern slavery, which has led to an increase in the number of live police modern slavery investigations.

This has also led to an increase in the number of prosecutions brought and convictions secured.

Measures under the Nationality and Borders Act came into force in 2023 which have helped clarify our obligations to providing support for victims of modern slavery.