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1437783

registered interest
date	03/03/2022
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Slavery
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of civil injunctions on compliance with Part 6 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 in each year since 2015.
tabling member constituency	Hammersmith
tabling member printed	Andy Slaughter
uin	133956
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/03/2022 answer text <p>Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 established the UK as the first country in the world to require businesses to report annually on steps taken to prevent modern slavery in their operations and supply chains. To comply with the requirement, statements must be:</p><ul><li>Published annually via a prominent link on the organisation's homepage;</li><li>Approved by the Board of Directors or equivalent;</li><li>Signed by a Director or equivalent.</li></ul><p>To assess compliance with the legal requirements, the Home Office contracted the Business &amp; Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC) to undertake an audit on the Home Office's behalf. The audit findings on levels of compliance were published on 17 September 2020 in the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner's annual report (available here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/independent-anti-slavery-commissioners-annual-report-2019-to-2020" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/independent-anti-slavery-commissioners-annual-report-2019-to-2020</a>).</p><p>The Secretary of State has the power to bring civil proceedings in the High Court for an injunction requiring an organisation to comply with the duty to produce a modern slavery statement. This power has not been used to date.</p><p>In July 2018, the Home Secretary commissioned the <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/803406/Independent_review_of_the_Modern_Slavery_Act_-_final_report.pdf" target="_blank">Independent Review of the Modern Slavery Act</a>. The aim of the Review was to identify where the Act is working well, what can be improved in the implementation of the Act and whether specific areas of the legislation need to be strengthened. The independent review recommended that Government should strengthen its approach to organisations failing to comply with section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and recommended use of a civil penalty scheme to penalise non-compliance.</p><p>The Government has committed to strengthen section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act, to ensure businesses and large public bodies report transparently on action they have taken to address modern slavery risks in their operations and supply chains. These measures were set out in the Government’s response to the transparency in supply chains consultation, published on 22 September 2020.</p><p>In addition, in January 2021 the Foreign Secretary announced that financial penalties will be introduced for organisations who fail to meet their statutory obligations to publish annual modern slavery statements. These measures require primary legislation and will be introduced when parliamentary time allows. The Government will publish guidance to help organisations prepare for the new reporting requirements when timings of legislation are clear.</p> answering member constituency Redditch answering member printed Rachel Maclean grouped question UIN 133957 question first answered 08/03/2022 17:13:20 answering member 4668 label Biography information for Rachel Maclean
tabling member	1516 label Biography information for Andy Slaughter

1437784

registered interest
date	03/03/2022
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Slavery
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of making noncompliance with Part 6 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 a criminal offence.
tabling member constituency	Hammersmith
tabling member printed	Andy Slaughter
uin	133957
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/03/2022 answer text <p>Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 established the UK as the first country in the world to require businesses to report annually on steps taken to prevent modern slavery in their operations and supply chains. To comply with the requirement, statements must be:</p><ul><li>Published annually via a prominent link on the organisation's homepage;</li><li>Approved by the Board of Directors or equivalent;</li><li>Signed by a Director or equivalent.</li></ul><p>To assess compliance with the legal requirements, the Home Office contracted the Business &amp; Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC) to undertake an audit on the Home Office's behalf. The audit findings on levels of compliance were published on 17 September 2020 in the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner's annual report (available here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/independent-anti-slavery-commissioners-annual-report-2019-to-2020" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/independent-anti-slavery-commissioners-annual-report-2019-to-2020</a>).</p><p>The Secretary of State has the power to bring civil proceedings in the High Court for an injunction requiring an organisation to comply with the duty to produce a modern slavery statement. This power has not been used to date.</p><p>In July 2018, the Home Secretary commissioned the <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/803406/Independent_review_of_the_Modern_Slavery_Act_-_final_report.pdf" target="_blank">Independent Review of the Modern Slavery Act</a>. The aim of the Review was to identify where the Act is working well, what can be improved in the implementation of the Act and whether specific areas of the legislation need to be strengthened. The independent review recommended that Government should strengthen its approach to organisations failing to comply with section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and recommended use of a civil penalty scheme to penalise non-compliance.</p><p>The Government has committed to strengthen section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act, to ensure businesses and large public bodies report transparently on action they have taken to address modern slavery risks in their operations and supply chains. These measures were set out in the Government’s response to the transparency in supply chains consultation, published on 22 September 2020.</p><p>In addition, in January 2021 the Foreign Secretary announced that financial penalties will be introduced for organisations who fail to meet their statutory obligations to publish annual modern slavery statements. These measures require primary legislation and will be introduced when parliamentary time allows. The Government will publish guidance to help organisations prepare for the new reporting requirements when timings of legislation are clear.</p> answering member constituency Redditch answering member printed Rachel Maclean grouped question UIN 133956 question first answered 08/03/2022 17:13:20 answering member 4668 label Biography information for Rachel Maclean
tabling member	1516 label Biography information for Andy Slaughter

1437526

registered interest
date	02/03/2022
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Sexual Offences
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government plans to take to ensure that all police forces in England contain a dedicated rape and serious sexual offences unit; and what estimate he has made of how quickly those units could be established in all forces.
tabling member constituency	Hammersmith
tabling member printed	Andy Slaughter
uin	133143
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/03/2022 answer text <p>We recognise that having police officers with the right skills is critical in ensuring rape and sexual offences cases are managed appropriately and effectively. We are supporting the police to ensure this is the case through:</p><ul><li>funding Operation Soteria, which includes reviewing the learning and development offer to officers and sharing learning nationally;</li><li>supporting the Vulnerability Knowledge and Practice Programme, run by the National Police Chiefs’ Council, which drives improvement in the policing response to all safeguarding crimes (including adult sexual offences); and</li><li>the three-year Spending Review settlement secures an additional £540m for the Police Uplift Programme by 2024/25. This will enable forces to recruit and maintain the full 20,000 officer uplift, delivering on this Government’s commitment to recruit additional officers and keep the public safe.</li></ul><p>The deployment of officers and structure of forces is ultimately an operational matter for Chief Constables as there will be different considerations in different force areas.</p> answering member constituency Redditch answering member printed Rachel Maclean question first answered 07/03/2022 16:47:06 answering member 4668 label Biography information for Rachel Maclean
tabling member	1516 label Biography information for Andy Slaughter

1434092

registered interest
date	22/02/2022
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Rape: Prosecutions
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many allegations of rape were recorded in the first three quarters of the financial year 2020-21; and how many of those cases resulted in a (a) referral to the CPS, (b) charge or summons, (c) completed prosecution and (d) conviction, including guilty pleas, within one year of recording.
tabling member constituency	Hammersmith
tabling member printed	Andy Slaughter
uin	127332
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/02/2022 answer text <p>In June 2021 the Government published its End to End Rape Review Report and Action Plan. During that review, we took a hard and honest look at how the entire criminal justice system deals with rape and in too many instances it simply had not been good enough.</p><p>The Action Plan outlined a robust programme of work to achieve a significant improvement, and we are committed to delivering on the actions in order to bring this about.</p><p>This includes the publication on a quarterly basis of scorecards to shine a light on the performance of the criminal justice system and give greater transparency.</p><p>Further information on recorded rape offences, including time to charge and measures from the CPS and Ministry of Justice, can be found in the Criminal Justice Scorecard for recorded adult rape offences:</p><p><a href="https://data.justice.gov.uk/cjs-scorecard-adult-rape" target="_blank">CJS scorecard - recorded adult rape offences - Justice data</a></p> answering member constituency Redditch answering member printed Rachel Maclean question first answered 25/02/2022 12:41:08 answering member 4668 label Biography information for Rachel Maclean
tabling member	1516 label Biography information for Andy Slaughter

1401472

registered interest
date	10/01/2022
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Refugees: Afghanistan
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many of the initial 5,000 places on the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme will be allocated to people already in the UK.
tabling member constituency	Hammersmith
tabling member printed	Andy Slaughter
uin	100463
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/01/2022 answer text <p>The Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) commenced on 6th January. The ACRS will provide up to 20,000 women, children and others at risk with a safe and legal route to resettle in the UK.</p><p>Due to the success of our emergency evacuation and the larger than anticipated number of people brought over to the UK, we plan to exceed our initial aim of 5,000 people in the first year of the ACRS.</p><p>There are around 6,500 people in the UK who have been brought to safety during and after the evacuation who are eligible for the ACRS. They include women’s rights activists, journalists, and prosecutors, as well as the Afghan families of British Nationals. This also includes some of those most at risk, such as members of the LGBT community.</p> answering member constituency Louth and Horncastle answering member printed Victoria Atkins question first answered 18/01/2022 17:21:16 answering member 4399 label Biography information for Victoria Atkins
tabling member	1516 label Biography information for Andy Slaughter

1243435

registered interest
date	14/10/2020
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Knives: Safety
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answers of 10 September 2020 to Question 85969 and 14 October 2020 to Question 100312, if she will take steps with knife (a) manufacturers and (b) retailers to change the design of kitchen knives to replace pointed ends with rounded ends.
tabling member constituency	Hammersmith
tabling member printed	Andy Slaughter
uin	103451
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/10/2020 answer text <p>We know that knives are used for legitimate purposes by the vast majority of people. Bladed articles with pointed ends have legitimate uses and are often needed for a wide range of purposes, including as tools for work for instance in farming or fishing and in private such as in the household for use during cooking. While we are always ready to engage with manufacturers and retailers to help ensure public safety, it is important that the government strikes the right balance between allowing access to knives for legitimate reasons, with the need to protect the public from dangerous weapons. We believe the current legislation strikes the right balance. We will, however, continue to do everything we can to ensure that people do not carry dangerous weapons and commit violent crime in the first place.</p><p>This is why we have invested £176.5 million over two years in preventing serious violence in local communities and bolstering police capacity to respond to serios violent crimes when they do occur.</p><p>It is also why we have launched a consultation on new powers for the police to target those who have been convicted of knife related offences. We will also be piloting new Knife Crime Prevention Orders, introduced through the Offensive Weapons Act 2019. These new preventative orders will provide an additional tool for police to steer people away from serious violence.</p> answering member constituency North West Hampshire answering member printed Kit Malthouse question first answered 22/10/2020 14:39:04 answering member 4495 label Biography information for Kit Malthouse
tabling member	1516 label Biography information for Andy Slaughter

1241255

registered interest
date	07/10/2020
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Knives: Retail Trade
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 10 September 2020 to Question 85969 on Knives, what steps the Government is taking to work with retailers to promote the responsible sales of knives.
tabling member constituency	Hammersmith
tabling member printed	Andy Slaughter
uin	100312
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/10/2020 answer text <p>The Government has agreed a set of voluntary commitments with major retailers to promote the responsible sale of knives and to prevent the sale of knives to under-18s, both in stores and online. The agreement commits retailers to having robust measures in place to ensure age verification and both appropriate display and access to knives in stores.</p><p>Retailers also act to ensure customers and staff are reminded that knives are age restricted products and that all staff receive regular training. Since March 2016, 19 major retailed have joined the agreement, with some stopping the sale of single knives in their stores altogether. We are continuing to work with retailers to strengthen the agreement further in relation to the display of knives.</p><p>The Offensive Weapons Act 2019 strengthens the law in relation to the preventing the online sale of knives to under 18s by requiring age verification and stopping knives being sent to residential addresses after they are bought online, unless the seller has arrangements in place with the delivery company to ensure that the product would not be delivered into the hands of a person under 18.</p><p>We have paused commencement of some of the Act’s provisions due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the social distancing measures that have been in place to avoid placing significant additional burdens on businesses and delivery companies to modify their sales and delivery systems and train staff over this period. We are keeping the position under review and we expect to be able to commence the provisions at the earliest opportunity.</p> answering member constituency North West Hampshire answering member printed Kit Malthouse question first answered 14/10/2020 08:50:52 answering member 4495 label Biography information for Kit Malthouse
tabling member	1516 label Biography information for Andy Slaughter

1240247

registered interest
date	05/10/2020
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Slavery: Prisoners
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people in prison have been identified (a) provisionally and (b) conclusively by her Department as victims of modern slavery through the National Referral Mechanism.
tabling member constituency	Hammersmith
tabling member printed	Andy Slaughter
uin	98905
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/10/2020 answer text <p>The Single Competent Authority (SCA) operates the National Referral Mechanism (NRM), which is a civil process for the identification and support of victims of modern slavery. The SCA does not hold real-time or reportable data on the number of individuals that have been identified as potential or confirmed victims of modern slavery whilst in prison.</p> answering member constituency Louth and Horncastle answering member printed Victoria Atkins question first answered 09/10/2020 09:29:39 answering member 4399 label Biography information for Victoria Atkins
tabling member	1516 label Biography information for Andy Slaughter

1231847

registered interest
date	07/09/2020
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Knives
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will (a) make an assessment of the validity of September 2020 research on knives from De Montfort University and (b) bring forward legislative proposals on replacing pointed knives with rounded knives for domestic use.
tabling member constituency	Hammersmith
tabling member printed	Andy Slaughter
uin	85969
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/09/2020 answer text <p>We continue to work with retailers to promote the responsible sales of knives. It is important to strike the right balance between allowing access to knives, for instance as tools, with the need to protect the public from dangerous weapons.</p><p>We are doing everything in our power to make our streets safer, including recruiting 20,000 additional police officers over the next three years and providing the most substantial increase in police funding in a decade. Additionally, the Offensive Weapons Act 2019 introduced new knife crime prevention orders which were requested by the police and will provide them with a vital means to steer those most at risk away from serious violence.</p><p>£70 million of the Serious Violence Fund was invested in 18 areas to develop multi-agency Violence Reduction Units which bring together police, local government, health and education professionals, community leaders and other key partners to identify the drivers of serious violence and agree a multi-agency response to them. In addition to the Serious Violence Fund, we have invested £200 million in early intervention and prevention support initiatives to support young people at risk of exploitation and involvement in serious violence, through the Youth Endowment Fund.</p> answering member constituency North West Hampshire answering member printed Kit Malthouse question first answered 10/09/2020 15:05:02 answering member 4495 label Biography information for Kit Malthouse
tabling member	1516 label Biography information for Andy Slaughter

1092706

registered interest
date	21/03/2019
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Drugs Independent Review
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the independent review of drugs led by Professor Dame Carol Black will make an assessment of drug use and access to treatment for marginalised groups, including people sleeping rough.
tabling member constituency	Hammersmith
tabling member printed	Andy Slaughter
uin	235275
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/03/2019 answer text <p>The independent review of drugs will be undertaken in two parts. In its first part it will look at who drug users are, what they are taking, and how often in order to build the most in-depth and comprehensive picture of this issue to date. This will include consideration of vulnerable or marginalised groups.</p><p>The review will be able to draw on this evidence base to examine the harms that drugs cause and the best ways to prevent drug-taking, taking into account the system of support and enforcement around drug misuse. Further information on the scope of the review and the terms of reference can be found here: <a href="http://www.gov.uk/government/publications/independent-review-of-drugs-terms-of-reference" target="_blank">www.gov.uk/government/publications/independent-review-of-drugs-terms-of-reference</a></p> answering member constituency Louth and Horncastle answering member printed Victoria Atkins question first answered 29/03/2019 13:40:32 answering member 4399 label Biography information for Victoria Atkins
tabling member	1516 label Biography information for Andy Slaughter