Written Evidence submitted by Chief Constable Shaun Sawyer (Devon and Cornwall Police) NPCC Lead for Modern Slavery (MSA0109)

I welcome the opportunity to supply written evidence to this important inquiry, and follow with interest the inquiries progression, welcoming the identification of suggestions that can assist in further strengthening our collective response to modern slavery and associated forms of exploitation.

The evidence below relates to the areas within the call for evidence where I, as NPCC Lead for Modern Slavery and Senior Responsible Officer for the Modern Slavery Police Transformation Programme am best placed to comment. The Modern Slavery Police Transformation Unit has generated a significant body of work, very little of which is publically available and therefore attached here, but from which briefings on specific issues can be arranged.

1. Understanding the current scale and nature of modern slavery

1.1              Through the Threat Group, chaired by myself on behalf of the National Crime Agency, the UK law enforcement community recognised that modern slavery presents in different ways to each of our agencies and that a shared understanding of the nature of the threat was essential in driving forward an effective response.

1.2              The Modern Slavery Strategic Action Plan is owned by the National Crime agency, but inclusive of activity across law enforcement partners. The SAP focuses on improving the way in which joint analysis is conducted and encourages individual law enforcement agencies to improve the way in which data and intelligence relating to modern slavery is managed within their agencies. 

1.3              The modern slavery police transformation programme has enabled the establishment of the Joint Slavery and Trafficking Analysis centre, through which Border Force, GLAA, HMRC, Immigration Enforcement, the National Crime Agency and National Policing are working together to build a single picture of the threat. Hosted by the NCA, JSTAC is considered a successful pathfinder project, offering strategic analytical capability which is currently unparalleled for other thematic types of crime.

1.4              JSTAC has worked across government departments and with the wider intelligence community to strengthen information and intelligence flows in order to better understand the nature of the problem.

1.5              Within policing, the modern slavery police transformation programme has taken steps to strengthen the understanding of the threat at local, regional and at national level. A comprehensive programme of ten “Unlocking Slavery” awareness raising roadshows with police and partners has been delivered across the country to over 900 attendees.

1.6              To date 16 national thematic assessments and 9 additional thematic pieces of work in each policing region have been completed, testing and enhanced our understanding of specific components of the threat. Pooling information from the 43 forces in England and Wales, alongside Police Scotland and PSNI, the Modern Slavery Police Transformation Unit (MSPTU) Insight team also provides a capability and an information feed that is not present for other types of crime.

1.7              The MSPTU includes ringfenced resources who are working alongside NGO partners to strengthen the way in which their information is developed and exchanged with law enforcement, in order to build the fullest strategic understanding of the threat. Through direct reporting initiatives and crowd sourcing apps such as those recently launched by the Modern Slavery Helpline and the Clewer Foundation new information sources are becoming available, requiring consideration as to how these are aggregated. 

1.8              The MSPTU includes three analytical teams alongside the JSTAC – a regional transformation team, a national insight team, and an embedded team within Europol.

1.9              Taken collectively, the assessments from these teams indicate that exploitation is occurring through a wide range of typologies, perpetrated by organised crime groups, less coordinated networks and by individuals. Offenders frequently exploit victims in numerous ways over time, crossing boundaries between different types of crime and exploitation and carrying out acts across different geographic areas.

1.10              Numbers of victims entering the NRM or encountered by police investigations are increasing, as is police operational activity. Since November 2016 when the MSPTU began mapping police activity, over 2000 investigations have taken place. There are currently 888 active policing investigations in contrast to 188 taking place at the close of 2016.

1.11              Processes to track this information, public and law enforcement awareness are all improving, but JSTACs assessment that all drivers of exploitation are forecast to increase, or to remain stable suggests that the threat is also likely to be increasing within society.

2              Impact of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 (“the Act”)

2.1              The Modern Slavery Act 2015 is welcomed as a powerful piece of legislation that has been found, across reviews, to be operating effectively.  This evidence focuses on the issues raised by investigators to the MSPTU in relation to the sections of the act where practical challenges are identified: Section 45 and Section 54.

2.2              Section 45

              Section 45 is an exceptionally important part of The Act. It sets on a legislative footing the protection of those forced to commit crime as a direct result of them being victims of modern slavery.

2.3              In order to access a section 45 defence there are three criteria:-

1. The person does that act because the person is compelled to do it; if the person is under 18 there is no requirement to prove they were compelled to commit the act.
2. The compulsion is attributable to slavery or to relevant exploitation, and
3. A reasonable person in the same situation as the person and having the person’s relevant characteristics would have no realistic alternative to doing that act.

2.4              The section 45 defence extends to defendants charged with any criminal offence that does not feature in Schedule 4.  Schedule 4 offences exclude all Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 and limits Theft Act 1968 offences to the more serious theft offences (e.g. burglary, blackmail). Generally the statutory defence within other legislation used by police and law enforcement only extends to the boundaries of that particular legislation, rather than such a broad spectrum found within this Act. Officers highlight to the MSPTU that it is this broad coverage of offences that has brought about the frequency of use of the defence and also the potential for abusing the defence.

2.6              Under the current legislation, this defence is available for all offences under the Misuse of Drugs Act.  This presents a real risk for enforcement, in terms of the ability of criminals involved in county lines activity who are not being exploited to abuse this defence.  The need to protect victims forced into such activities is paramount but potentially further consideration is suggested about the inclusion of drugs offences in this area.  For example, to consider a variable approach, in terms of preventing use of the defence for Class A drug supply offences or the introduction of a ‘prosecutorial discretion’ as exists in Australia – recognising in all instances that the common law defence of duress would remain available. 

2.7              The National Referral Mechanism (NRM) is in principle independent of the Investigation or intelligence development process. However, the product obtained during the NRM process and its outcome is at times disclosable in a court process. If the outcome or product within the process meets the legal criteria for disclosure the prosecutor is under a strict obligation to disclose the material or seek dispensation under the Public Interest Immunity (PII). Officers indicate to the MSPTU that as a result this can at times appear that two arms of the state are at odds with one another; the NRM giving conclusive grounds that an individual is a victim of modern slavery and the prosecution trying to proceed with a case on the basis the individual is not a victim of modern slavery. 

2.8              Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015

This section is an important part of The Act and sets a legislative footing for some aspects of gaining transparency in supply chains.

2.9              However its impact is limited due to a number of factors:

1. Section 54 does not set a defined standard for a company’s slavery and human trafficking statement.
2. Section 54 only requires companies with an annual turnover of £36m or more to publish a slavery and human trafficking statement which raises practical challenges in identifying which companies are subject to the requirement and which excludes public services.
3. Section 54’s annual turnover threshold also leaves behind a significant proportion of small and medium businesses who face no such obligation. Operational experience shows that exploitation has been identified within small to medium enterprises, including very small companies, e.g. hand car washes, nail bars and construction companies. Identifying clearly opportunities for the Act to intersect with wider employment legislation (for example, Health and Safety) could afford increased protection for victims.

3              The Law enforcement response to modern slavery

3.1              Through the work of the MSPTU and the efforts of police forces under the umbrella of the NCA-led Operation Aident intensification programme, the pace of operational activity has increased month on month. There are currently 888 police-led modern slavery operations taking place across the UK, in comparison to 188 taking place in November 2016. These include large investigations involving numerous victims and offenders, many of which cross force borders, placing significant demand on forces.

3.2              Improvements to the response to modern slavery cannot be delivered solely within structures designed to tackle more traditional serious and organised crime responses – indeed around 85% of modern slavery investigations undertaken by policing at any one time are being dealt with at a local level within police forces.

3.3              This reinforces the importance of holistic community-based responses to modern slavery and the key role that partners beyond law enforcement, for example health, education, the business community and social care services must have in sharing information and in developing together the local understanding of the threat and meaningful prevention activity.

3.4              The police service is now more alert to cases of slavery and exploitation. The number of potential victims protected as a result of police led activity has seen a significant year on year increase.

4              The Modern Slavery Police Transformation Programme

4.1              In November 2016 the government granted funding through the Police Transformation Fund Board to the Police and Crime Commissioner of Devon and Cornwall Police to support the National Police Chiefs Council Lead for Modern Slavery to improve the police services response to modern slavery.

4.2              These monies totaled £8.5 million and have been used to establish the Modern Slavery Police Transformation Unit, which became operational in April 2017 and is scheduled to close when the funding ends in March 2019.

4.3              Although focused on improving the police response, this dedicated unit has also supported the response by other partner agencies.

4.4              The unit includes around 70 specialists dedicated to supporting the police service to improve its response to modern slavery in a wide range of ways, including through:

1. The provision of a Joint Slavery and Trafficking Analysis Centre, a multi-agency team that is building a shared picture of the threat across law enforcement agencies,
2. The provision of regional transformation teams – analysts and co-ordinators in each policing region, who are supporting local forces to improve intelligence flows and processes, and who are responsible for identifying and promoting good practice, and building a regional threat picture;
3. The provision of a national policing insight team, developing stronger performance and intelligence analysis capability, including improving the way that law enforcement interacts with other agencies, (including NGOs) data;
4. The provision of a central training and awareness raising capability, which has to date run awareness raising events reaching over 900 police and partners at a local level. This team have also provided to date bespoke and accredited training for 400+ specialist investigators, 575+interviewers, 300+senior investigating officers and 378+intelligence development staff and analysts;
5. Support for the APCC National Modern Slavery and Trafficking Network, building the networks capacity to brief and coordinate PCCs, including developing a toolkit for OPCCs in order to share good practice in making best use of their convening and scrutiny powers;
6. The provision of staff in Europol and in the Europol team within the UK, dedicated to improving the way in which police investigators interact with international law enforcement systems, including running awareness raising to support Joint Intelligence Teams and promoting approaches to interventions and safeguarding activity overseas;
7. The development of a debriefing function, with specialists supporting the identification of lessons learnt during 50 investigations and prosecutions to date and translating this into more than 15 guidance products to support investigators;
8. The provision of specialist staff to support the way in which the NRM current and future systems interact with police forces, ensuring information moves smoothly through the system and that crime recording and victim support processes are updated appropriately.

4.5              The MSPTU was established in order to strengthen the services understanding of the problem, to provide a stronger assessment of the services response, and to strengthen that response. It provided ring-fenced resources tasked to influence force, regional and national processes, policies and culture through the identification and promotion of good practice, systemic problem solving and awareness raising.

4.6              This collective effort provides an evidence base that the problem is both greater and more nuanced than first believed, meaning we can anticipate the demand on the service to continue to increase. It also provides evidence that despite great progress across a number of forces there remain challenges in ensuring modern slavery and exploitation are responded to appropriately through business as usual processes often established for more regular types of crime at force, regional and national levels.

4.7              It is currently the assessment of the National Policing Lead and the wider Strategic Oversight Board that the scheduled withdrawal of the ring-fenced assets for modern slavery is premature in the context of forecast strategic change within the law enforcement systems that tackle serious and organised crime and support international investigations, and the Home Office owned victim support system.

4.8              As SRO I am working closely with colleagues across NPCC, Home Office, APCC and with NCA to identify opportunities for continuation funding and for mainstreaming activity.

4.9              Governance of the MSPTU

4.10              The transformation programme is subject to extensive scrutiny as a grant funded project and operates to a set of agreed deliverables, which were influenced by the recommendations within the Home Office Review of the Modern Slavery Act 2015.

4.11              The governance of the programme is achieved through a Strategic Oversight Board, chaired by PCC Alison Hernandez, and including the APCC Lead for Modern Slavery, NCA Vulnerabilities Director, Home Office Head of the Modern Slavery Unit, NPCC Lead for Modern Slavery and an independent reviewer, Ms Caroline Haughey QC.

4.12              The NPCC Lead for Modern Slavery chairs a Programe Board reporting into this, and has put in place appropriate oversight of the performance of the programme in order to ensure best value. Quarterly returns are provided to the Police Transformation Fund Board and external audits take place.

5              Priorities for the new Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner (IASC)

5.1              I welcome the establishment of the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner, operating alongside the Victims Commissioner and the Childrens Commissioner to ensure some of the most vulnerable people in society are protected, and their voices heard.

5.2              The office of the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner presents an opportunity to advocate to ensure that collective cross-government and agency strategies, including those not specific to modern slavery are aligned in the way in which they tackle Modern Slavery and associated criminal exploitation and sexual exploitation, taking account of the developing evidence base.

5.3              The role presents opportunities to convene those already engaged actively within the Modern Slavery response with those who are not yet consistently at the table, but are well placed to intervene in the underlying conditions of vulnerability which are exploited by offenders, both in the UK and upstream. 

5.4              There are understandably increasing numbers of well-intentioned and powerful stakeholders active within the agenda tackling modern slavery, resulting in a collective community-wide effort which could be ever more effective if it was harnessed to target the emerging understanding of the high harm components of the threat, at every level from local to international.

September 2018