My Lords, I will speak to the amendments in my name and the name of my noble friend Lord Rosser. In doing so, I also warmly welcome the other amendments in this group. We certainly subscribe to the evidence-based views of the Joint Committee on the role of the commissioner, as do other noble Lords who have spoken this afternoon. I also find of great interest the amendments from the noble Baroness, Lady Cox, on the international aspect, and I would certainly like to see that explored further.
The commissioner’s role, set out in Clause 41, is narrowly centred on promoting good practice in law enforcement and the identification of victims, which in practice also involves law enforcement agencies to a large degree. That focus on prosecutions and investigations has been emphasised by the appointment of a police officer as the commissioner-designate. Of course I note what the noble and learned Baroness, Lady Butler-Sloss, said, and warmly welcome that the commissioner-designate is determined to be independent and all the various aspirations that she cited, and that he will take advice from a very wide circle of people. However, it should not be up to the judgment of that one man to decide what his remit is and how he acts. It is extremely important for the future—for future commissioners and Home Secretaries—that the definition that we consider fitting should be in the Bill.
The limited remit of the commissioner reflects the fundamental flaw in the original draft of the Bill, which has been ameliorated to some extent already, although there is further to go: namely, the absence of measures to meet the needs of victims. Our Amendment 67ZAA seeks to widen the remit of what the commissioner must encourage in relation to good practice. The Government have raised concern that there should be no overlap with the work of the Victims’ Commissioner. However, like the noble Lord, Lord Patel, we believe that is not beyond the two commissioners in question—and I am delighted that the noble Baroness is in her place—to set clear protocols to guarantee smooth and constructive working.
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Moreover, the circumstances of victims of human trafficking are very different from those of other victims. These victims go through the NRM process, for example, which is not experienced by other victims. The nature of the crimes of modern slavery and trafficking often deprives the person of their home, sometimes their country, their identity documents, their legal status and all the security that these things provide. This puts them in a different position from other victims of
crime. I do not doubt the determination of the Victims’ Commissioner to serve the needs of all victims of crimes, but he would be better placed to promote best practice in the treatment of victims of modern slavery if this provision were in the Bill.
I was also encouraged to hear the statements made by the commissioner himself on the importance of a victim-centred approach in policing. However, as I mentioned, his ability to make real and effective change for victims is curtailed by the limitations on his remit according to the Bill. Without the ability to review or comment on the provision of support to victims, or victims’ access to compensation or civil remedies, the commissioner will be limited to addressing how victims are treated within law enforcement and prosecution. He will have no avenue for addressing any failings in other sectors, despite the fact that those failings may impact on the willingness of victims to give evidence in court or co-operate with the police investigations.
This is a matter not just for the anti-slavery commissioner himself, but for the other agencies with which he is interacting. Our amendment, like that of the noble Lord, Lord Patel, includes the need for the commissioner to encourage good practice in the implementation of the EU directive on human trafficking. The commissioner would be perfectly placed to offer critical reflection on the quality of implementation of these obligations. The reports of the interdepartmental ministerial group have provided an overview of the situation of trafficking and modern slavery in the UK over the past couple of years, although I note that there was no full report published in 2014. However, as its title indicates, the group is a ministerial body. It cannot provide an independent analysis of whether we are meeting the requirements of the international treaties.
The Government have stated that they intend that the interdepartmental ministerial group continues to act as the equivalent of the rapporteur required by the EU trafficking directive. However, in comparison, compliance with similar human rights treaty obligations is monitored by other independent groups, such as the Equality and Human Rights Commission. As the Joint Committee on Human Rights stated in its report on the Bill:
“National human rights institutions, such as the Equality and Human Rights Commission and the Children’s Commissioner, generally do not have the Ombudsman-type power to take up individual cases, but they do have a significant role in collecting data in order to monitor the State’s performance in observing the rights of individuals”.
The committee went on to say:
“We recommend that the proposed Anti-slavery Commissioner should be regarded as part of the national human rights machinery, rather than simply as an adjunct of the Home Office whose primary role is to oversee the law enforcement response to trafficking and slavery, ensuring that perpetrators are identified, disrupted and brought to justice”.
Our Amendment 67AA looks at what the commissioner may make reports on. We have removed the current wording of “any permitted matter” and inserted,
“matters relevant to subsection (1)”.
Like other noble Lords, we are concerned about the word “permitted”, which indicates a relationship between the commissioner and the Secretary of State, whose
approval and permission are needed. Again we stress here, like others, the need for an independent commissioner, in actuality and perception, whose activities should not have to be at the mercy of the Secretary of State or the Home Office.
Amendment 67G will give the commissioner the power to undertake investigations and studies to monitor and identify trends in human trafficking and slavery, and to request inspections to be carried out by statutory inspectors. The stated purpose of the anti-slavery commissioner is to promote good practice in enforcement of the law on human trafficking, forced and compulsory labour, and slavery and servitude. For the commissioner to do this effectively, he will have to have a detailed and up-to-date understanding of the nature of modern slavery, the developing trends in types of exploitation and the activities and methods of the criminals engaged in them.
The evidence review prior to the publication of the draft Bill made a number of recommendations for an anti-slavery commissioner, including that he or she should have a key focus on collecting and analysing data on modern slavery, particularly as regards monitoring contemporary and emerging trends, such as the role of the internet in coercing potential victims of modern slavery. Our focus on inspections is a recommendation in the report It Happens Here by the Centre for Social Justice, which I believed first coined the phrase “anti-slavery commissioner”. The example given in the CSJ report was that there may be a reason for the commissioner to request Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary to make an assessment of a particular police force’s capability to respond to modern slavery. Indeed, the Gangmasters Licensing Authority will play an important role here, too.
Similarly, it could be beneficial to request inspections in prisons to establish their effectiveness in identifying victims of trafficking among the inmates. Where inspectorates already exist, there would be no need for the commissioner to conduct his own detailed investigations. However, he will need the authority to request these bodies to undertake inquiries. These powers would assist the commissioner to carry out his primary function of promoting good practice in identifying victims and in the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of offences.
Amendment 68ZZA seeks to address engagement with relevant civil society organisations, which we believe is vital in accessing expertise and knowledge and ensuring the effectiveness of the commissioner’s work but also in ensuring transparency. This is a facet of the work of national rapporteurs under the EU directive but would also ensure public confidence and thus help address the issue of perceptions that we discussed last week.