Source · Select Committees · Home Affairs Committee
First Report - Human trafficking
Home Affairs Committee
HC 124
Published 8 December 2023
Recommendations
32
Acknowledged
Para 108
Accelerate efforts to investigate, prosecute, and adjudicate human trafficking and modern slavery cases.
Recommendation
Criminal justice practitioners, including the police in England and Wales, the National Crime Agency and Crown Prosecution Service, must urgently review and then accelerate and scale up their efforts to investigate, prosecute and effectively adjudicate human trafficking and modern slavery …
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Government Response Summary
The government acknowledges the importance of pursuing and prosecuting human trafficking offenses and states its commitment to driving up prosecution rates through collaboration with law enforcement agencies.
Home Office
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46
Acknowledged
Para 140
Include evidence-led prosecution guidance in Home Office, CPS, and College of Policing modern slavery materials.
Recommendation
The Home Office should include a section on evidence-led prosecutions in its modern slavery statutory guidance drawing on Article 27 (1) of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (ECAT). Similarly, the Crown Prosecution Service …
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Government Response Summary
The government describes existing guidance and training provided by the CPS and the College of Policing.
Home Office
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63
Acknowledged
Para 193
Report on waiting times and referral status duration in annual and quarterly statistics.
Recommendation
The Home Office should report in its annual and quarterly statistics on the waiting times for all cases within the system, the amount of time for which referrals are suspended, withdrawn, or closed, so that a better picture can be …
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Government Response Summary
The government recognizes the importance of transparency and data and states it will keep under review what additional data can be published without compromising ongoing investigations and mentions steps taken to improve timeliness of NRM decision-making.
Home Office
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Conclusions (9)
3
Conclusion
Acknowledged
Para 29
The Home Office’s shift in policy focus to irregular migration is also demonstrated by the Government’s long delay in producing a new Modern Slavery Strategy and by the recent transfer of elements of responsibility for modern slavery and human trafficking from the Safeguarding Minister’s portfolio to that of the Immigration …
Government Response Summary
The government acknowledges the importance of a modern slavery strategy, stating it will resume publishing an Annual Report on Modern Slavery this year and will consider delivering a new strategy. It defends its approach to tackling modern slavery and migration together, implicitly addressing the observed transfer of ministerial responsibility.
8
Conclusion
Acknowledged
Para 41
The Modern Slavery Unit’s outputs, including belated information about its new model for stakeholder engagement (Modern Slavery Stakeholder Forums) is opaque to say the least. We deeply regret that a unit comprising 56 staff has prioritised work on the Illegal Migration Act to the detriment of preventing human trafficking, protecting …
Government Response Summary
The government acknowledges the committee's report and the focus on illegal migration, but asserts its continued commitment to tackling modern slavery with an expansive system of work, noting that efforts remain under review.
12
Conclusion
Acknowledged
Para 63
Enforcement of the current provisions of Section 53A of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 is insufficient to deter those who buy sex.
Government Response Summary
The government acknowledges the committee's observation by explaining the nature of Section 53A and stating that police prioritize investigating more serious modern slavery crimes due to higher penalties, justifying current enforcement practices.
31
Conclusion
Acknowledged
Para 107
The high number of referrals into the National Referral Mechanism and the number of live investigations together highlight the ability to identify human trafficking and exploitation that occurs in the UK. These cases are resource-intensive and potentially complex; however, the low prosecution rates are unacceptable. The criminal justice system faces …
Government Response Summary
The government acknowledges the importance of pursuing and prosecuting human trafficking offenses and states its commitment to driving up prosecution rates through collaboration with law enforcement agencies.
38
Conclusion
Acknowledged
Para 123
Training should be centralised, for example via the National Police Chiefs’ Council Modern Slavery and Organised Immigration training resources. Tackling human trafficking should be recognised as a national law enforcement priority and be resourced at a level commensurate with the harm it causes to these vulnerable victims of crime.
Government Response Summary
The government states it keeps relevant legislation under regular review and will continue to work with voluntary and community sector organisations to help individuals exit prostitution and sex work, without addressing the specific calls for centralised training or declaring human trafficking a national law enforcement priority.
45
Conclusion
Acknowledged
Para 139
It is the case that investigations into all forms of human trafficking should proactively consider an evidence-led prosecutions approach, with the CPS guidance on domestic abuse and evidential opportunities being transferable to human trafficking.
Government Response Summary
The government describes existing guidance and training provided by the CPS and the College of Policing.
47
Conclusion
Acknowledged
Para 144
The National Crime Agency’s (NCA) remit is not only international but also includes internal organised crime group threats. The NCA’s work has been mostly diverted to focus on tackling smuggling upstream, in line with the Government’s focus on organised immigration crime. The diverting of resources away from modern slavery and …
Government Response Summary
The government acknowledges the committee's observation by reiterating that modern slavery remains a priority for the NCA, and justifies its focus on illegal migration by highlighting the close links between modern slavery and migration.
59
Conclusion
Acknowledged
Para 181
The role fulfilled by Victim Navigators is essential to supporting victims in the criminal justice process and enabling investigation teams to build evidential cases.
Government Response Summary
The government acknowledges the crucial role of Victim Navigators and states its commitment to ensuring they have the resources and training needed, while working with Victim Support to improve service provision.
72
Conclusion
Acknowledged
Para 214
The Nationality and Borders Act 2022 and revisions to the Modern Slavery statutory guidance have changed the amount and type of evidence required for a potential victim to be referred into the National Referral Mechanism decision-making process. It is unclear what the impact of either of these changes will be …
Government Response Summary
The government acknowledges the committee's observations about the impact of the Nationality and Borders Act 2022 on NRM decisions, stating they are monitoring and evaluating these changes and that the decline in positive Reasonable Grounds decisions is the intended outcome for robust decision-making.