Written evidence from TUC on the Modern Slavery Bill

The TUC welcomes the Modern Slavery Bill as an initiative but believes that as it is currently drafted, it is deficient in a number of important ways. This brief submission will aim to highlight these deficiencies bearing in mind the questions posed by the Committee.

Hopefully the process of consolidating existing laws will have some beneficial effect in combating modern day slavery. There are however a number of problems with the draft which will, unless amended, ultimately render the Act far less effective than it could be.

The most glaring problem with the Bill is that it does not deal with the identification and protection of victims. For effective legislation to be put in place, how potential victims are identified is self evidently crucial. By the very nature of the crime you cannot expect many of the victims to present themselves at a police station and complain that they are the victims of forced labour etc. Equally important for the successful identification and the conviction of the perpetrator, is that the victim needs to cooperate with the relevant authorities. There are a number of reasons why a victim may not cooperate, including:

• The fear of those who are subjecting them to abuse
• The fear that they themselves may be prosecuted if they are being coerced into taking part in criminal activity
• The concern that they may be deported

These fears of victims need to be addressed.

The National Referral Mechanism needs to be put on a statutory basis with clear commitments to victims and a statutory right to appeal. The issue of migration status should in no way be used to determine whether or not they have been subject to forced labour or what their future should be. Adequate resources need to be made available to back-up a statutory commitment to victims. This includes making accommodation available not just to those who have been trafficked but all those who have been subject to forced labour and are in need of such accommodation. Where victims are from outside the UK and want to go home then state help should not end at the airport. Resources may need to be deployed to help victims reintegrate in their home community.

The Bill should include a non-punishment clause, drawing on the UK’s requirements under Article 8 of the EU Directive and Article 26 of the Council of Europe Convention, reiterating the well established principle that individuals should not be prosecuted for crimes that they have been compelled to commit.

The TUC welcomes the proposed Anti-Slavery Commissioner but would argue strongly that they should be independent of the Government. At the moment it is proposed that they will be appointed by the Home Secretary and answerable to the Home Secretary. We are even told that the Home Secretary will have the power to edit their reports. None of these arrangements are acceptable. The whole point of a Ant-Slavery Commissioner or Rapporteur should be that they are independent of Government and that through Parliament, they should be able to hold the Government to account. They should also have the power to request information and to initiate research.

The proposal that specified public authorities will have a statutory duty to report likely cases of trafficking to the National Crime Agency (NCA) is also a matter of concern for the TUC. Although the TUC does not doubt that this proposal is well meant, we feel that it should not be proceeded with. Our main reason being, particularly with the inadequate support for victims referred to above, many victims may not even be willing to explore whether they are being trafficked and what their options are, if their case is immediately reported to the NCA. Prosecuting perpetrators and finding the best outcome for the victim will often require trust built over time through dialogue. In addition, we understand that such an approach would also be a breach of the human rights of the victims and would ultimately be struck down in the courts. Article 11 para 5 of the EU Trafficking Directive states, “The assistance and support measures referred to in paras 1 and 2 shall be provided on a consensual and informed basis”. We believe the proposal contravenes the requirement that support should be on a “consensual and informed basis”.

Finally, the TUC is disappointed that there is no proposal for introducing a system of guardianship for children as provided for in the EU Directive and Council of Europe Convention. Trafficked adults are usually very vulnerable; indeed it may often have been their existing vulnerability which helped to lead to them being trafficked. How vulnerable are trafficked children then. Special provision needs to be put in place for trafficked children.

In recent years, the Gangmasters Licensing Authority ( GLA) has played an important role in identifying and supporting the victims of human trafficking and forced labour in the agriculture, and fresh food processing industries.  The TUC believes that the remit of the GLA should be extended to cover other high risk sectors, including construction, hospitality, and social care.