Coroners and Justice Bill

My Lords, I congratulate my noble and learned friend on her perseverance. As she said, she and I met a domestic worker who was virtually imprisoned in her employer’s homes, and it was only when the worker was able to make contact with a specialised organisation, Kalayaan, that she could take her employer to court. The offences were only assault and theft, but many worse things had happened. Even so, I am grateful to the Government for bringing forward their own amendment. I want to point out that it has been shown in this and previous debates that it is international conventions that require the Government to come forward with a new offence. As has been said, the current offences on trafficking were very welcome, but over time have been shown to be inadequate. There was agreement in last night’s debate on the need for more effective enforcement, and the noble Baroness, Lady Neville-Jones, especially drew attention to the low conviction rates. I was hoping that the Government could deal with that today, but there may not be time. It was with great satisfaction, therefore, that my noble and learned friend Lady Butler-Sloss and I heard from the Minister this morning that a new amendment will be tabled at Third Reading. Obviously it is too early to comment, but the Minister has already said that a lot of people have been working hard to get as far as this. I thank him and the staff of the organisations involved.