My Lords, on that last point, the remarks on Northern Ireland of the noble Baroness, Lady Royall, we are, I am sure, as one. We recognise that we are moving. The general consensus, if I may try to sum up the debate, is that progress has been made and we have come a long way, to quote the noble Lord, Lord Browne, and the noble and learned Baroness, Lady
Butler-Sloss, but perhaps there is further to go. Well, we still have more stages in the consideration of this legislation.
I come to some general remarks. I join nearly all noble Lords in the debate on these amendments in paying tribute to my noble friend Lord McColl for his determined and—I am tempted to say, as a former member of the Government Whips’ Office—unyielding advocacy on behalf of children, going back to the Immigration Bill, but also his own Private Member’s Bill. It has been an example of how it is possible, from the Back Benches, to make significant, important changes to government legislation.
I urge my noble friend, in saying this, to recognise that we have in front of us something that is not timid or weak. Such terms have been used a few times during our discussion. I totally accept that that is how parliamentary discussion and scrutiny should work: the Government give a bit and then people say, yes, thank you—17 year-olds, legal aid—but can we have some more? I understand that, but there is an audience outside this place that needs to have some confidence that we have before us something that is robust and that they can act upon. Yes, okay, the Independent Anti-slavery Commissioner may not have everything spelt out to the last letter as far as your Lordships would like, but the fact is that he is there, he has a vital role to play, and others should work with him to ensure that victims are identified and perpetrators prosecuted. With child-trafficking advocates, again, we may not have everything spelt out to the letter in the Bill, but the reality is that we do have a provision there.
We have heard a lot about the “mays” in Clause 47, but there are some “musts” as well. For example:
“The Secretary of State must make such arrangements as the Secretary of State considers reasonable to enable persons (“child trafficking advocates”) to be available to represent and support children who there is reason to believe may be victims of human trafficking”.
In the next subsection,
“the Secretary of State must have regard to the principle that, so far as practicable, a child should be represented and supported by someone who is independent of any person who will be responsible for making decisions about the child”.
Also, of course, in Clause 47(6):
“The Secretary of State must, no later than 9 months after the day … report on the steps the Secretary of State proposes to take in relation to the powers conferred by this section”.
So there are “musts” there.
I shall deal with some specific points put before us. The issue of support and protection for victims of child trafficking is of the utmost importance across the Floor of both Houses of Parliament. I share the aim of providing a bespoke support system for this most vulnerable group of children. I am dedicated to ensuring that these children receive the support and protection they deserve after the nightmare of their traumatic experience of being trafficked and exploited.
Before I continue, I assure noble Lords that, although modern slavery is a devolved matter, we continue to work closely with the devolved Administrations on the issue. We are fully abreast of the similar provisions which the noble Lord, Lord Browne, in particular,
referred to in respect of Northern Ireland, as well as the Scottish guardianship service, and we are learning from these. We continue to maintain our positive partnership with the Welsh Government on this matter. We have listened intently to the debate on the issue of child trafficking advocates. Amendment 86 seeks to extend the provision to child victims of slavery and sets out in detail the minimum responsibilities of child trafficking advocates.
In that context I will set out the Government’s approach to achieving the best result for child victims of trafficking. We are trialling child trafficking advocates. The trials are being delivered by Barnardo’s across 23 local authorities in England and are now well under way, having started in September, with a growing number of children receiving the services of a specialist advocate.
8.30 pm
We are making provision in this Bill to place child trafficking advocates on a statutory footing. Our provision sets out key principles in the Bill, such as that the advocate must be independent. Here I take on board the points that were made by the noble Earl, Lord Listowel, and my noble friend Lady Hodgson, who made reference to the fact that children often have a distrustful attitude to figures of authority when they have been trafficked because they may have been complicit in their trafficking away from their country of origin. Therefore, having someone they can trust in this role is vital. However, we should await the outcome of the trial and its independent evaluation before we—and by that I mean Parliament—finalise the very best evidence-based provision for this extremely vulnerable group of children.
That is why the commencement procedures include a provision which ensures that Parliament has the final decision on commencement after nine months from Royal Assent, to give time for the child trafficking advocates trial to finish and the University of Bedfordshire to present its final independent evaluation. That is why the detail of a statutory child trafficking advocates scheme should be set out in regulations and be subject to the affirmative resolution procedure. That approach allows us to set up a scheme that, if required, can be just as strong as the one which, for example, the Northern Ireland Assembly is looking at, once we have the evidence about what will work best.
Therefore, while I share much of the sentiment behind Amendment 86, I have concerns that to set out the details of the role of the child trafficking advocate in the Bill now would tie our hands in ultimately delivering the best possible support and protection for these incredibly vulnerable children. It would also, unnecessarily, mean that any future changes or improvements to the role would have to be made through primary legislation. The Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee report, published on 28 November, agreed, and accepted that carrying out the trial made it appropriate to leave the detailed provision about child trafficking advocates to be set out in regulations. I am looking carefully at the committee’s recommendations on how that regulation-making power should be framed.
Amendment 86 would also extend the provision to victims of slavery, and Amendments 85A and 86A to 86G would extend the provision to all separated children. I am also very concerned about victims of slavery, separated children and indeed all groups of vulnerable children. However, the current trial and provision in the Bill is deliberately focused on a particularly vulnerable group. We know that trafficked children need consistently to receive support and protection to avoid them going missing and being retrafficked, which is a significant risk. We should take the important step in this Bill—as my noble friend Lady Hamwee mentioned—of providing focused and tailored support for that particularly vulnerable group.
The trial may allow us to learn lessons that could apply to other groups of vulnerable children. I assure noble Lords that any child entering local authority care is already entitled to the same level of support and protection. They are allocated a social worker, who is responsible for planning the care of the child; they have an independent reviewing officer, who ensures that the child is aware of the implications of their immigration and asylum status; and they also have a right to an independent advocate from the local authority, who is responsible for accurately representing the child’s wishes and feelings.
The Bill will take the very important step of including the statutory provision for child trafficking advocates, and I have heard the concern that support for all vulnerable children should be extended. I ask the House to be mindful that a much broader scheme for advocates would have substantial financial implications, without there yet being clear evidence of its value—that is the purpose of the trial.
Amendment 86H, which is of course the central amendment in this group, also seeks to introduce the word “independent” in the title of the clause. I would like to reassure the noble and learned Baroness, Lady Butler-Sloss, the noble Baronesses, Lady Royall and Lady Lister, and my noble friend Lord McColl that we are very clear that these advocates need to be independent in order to support and protect the child effectively. The principle of independence is set out in Clause 47(2) of the Bill and therefore it is unnecessary to amend the title in this respect.
Amendments 103 and 104 seek to remove the special commencement procedure in relation to this clause. This provision was originally an enabling power. However, the Government amended the Bill in another place to impose an obligation to introduce child trafficking advocates, subject to a special commencement procedure that would take place after the results of the evaluation of the trials were known. The special procedure deliberately gives parliamentarians the final say on commencement of the provision, rather than the decision being that of the Secretary of State. Any Member of the House would be able to call a debate on passing a resolution that the advocates clause should be commenced. Both Houses can require the Secretary of State to commence through such resolutions. This is an appropriate approach that is evidence-based and maximises the role of Parliament.
I understand the motive behind the amendments in their attempt to ensure that the Secretary of State makes the necessary regulations to bring the subsection
into force. However, I have concerns that the amendments would force the Secretary of State to make regulations potentially bringing the provision into force before the evaluation of the trial has been completed and she has reported back to Parliament on her approach as required under Clause 47(6).