Response from Vernon Coaker MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Home Office

Since the publication of the JCHR's first report in October 2006 there have been a number of important developments in the Government's human trafficking strategy. These include the publication of the UK Action Plan on tackling human trafficking on the 23^rd March 2007 and the signature, on the same day of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against trafficking in human beings.

We are now actively involved in implementing the commitments set out in the UK Action Plan in the key areas of prevention, investigation, enforcement and prosecution, provision of protection and assistance to victims and child trafficking. In addition, we have also established a dedicated team to take forward the implementation of the Council of Europe Convention and an inter departmental board of senior officials from across Whitehall and the devolved administrations to direct and co-ordinate the implementation process. The Inter-Departmental Ministerial Group on human trafficking which I currently chair monitors progress both on the Action Plan and with the implementation of the Convention.

I assure you we remain committed to tackling this terrible crime and ensuring that our end to end strategy as outlined in the Action Plan has an impact on the ground and continues to have a victim centred focus.

I enclose the Government's response to the further recommendations you make in the update report and look forward to our continuing dialogue on this important issue.

The Government response to the Conclusions and Recommendations in the Update Report on Human Trafficking.

1. The Council of Europe Convention on Human Trafficking should be ratified as son as possible and a target date should be announced for ratification along with a ratification plan.

The Government agrees that the Convention should be ratified as soon as possible. Before formally ratifying, the Government is committed to implementing it fully in accordance with its ongoing strategy on trafficking. Our legal system and long established practice effectively prevent us from ratifying an international treaty until we are fully compliant because the rights and obligations a treaty sets out can only be realised through our domestic law. Other signatories, can ratify much more easily because it is the act of ratification that incorporates the treaty into domestic law.

Implementation is a key part of the comprehensive UK Action Plan on Tackling Human Beings, which is regularly reviewed. In many respects the UK is already compliant with the Convention but there are some difficult issues that need to be resolved. The complexity of some of the issues, e.g. around identification, victim rights provisions, the need for limited secondary and primary legislation and to fully consult stakeholders, within Government, devolved administrations and the voluntary sector, means ratification will take time . We want to ratify as soon as we can but are determined to get the arrangements right before doing so.

There is no loss of sight in taking forward the necessary work on implementation of the Convention. A dedicated project team is leading delivery of the changes needed to comply with the Convention and is reporting to a cross-government officials project board and Ministerial Group. As implementation options are developed we will continue to consult with a range of stakeholders, including via our established Non Governmental Organisation (NGO) stakeholder group, chaired by Home Office Minister Vernon Coaker, and the Solicitor - General. We will provide a further update to the JCHR early in 2008 with a more detailed legislative plan for implementation.

2. Protection of victims should be incorporated into the legislative framework, particularly in relation to immigration law. We seek the Governments' confirmation that this will be done as part of the process of ratifying the Council of Europe Convention

The Government remains clear that the response to trafficking should be primarily about protecting victims of crime and bringing those who exploit them to justice. Many victims are foreign nationals and under the Convention being a victim may have a number of immigration implications. There is a clear need for wide consultation on how to recognise and provide for the needs of victims of trafficking within existing victim care, immigration and labour market arrangements. We are investigating what all the options are, what impact they would have and what legislative or procedural changes might be required to make them a success.

3. We would welcome an early indication from Government of how Article 13 of the Convention, relating to the recovery and reflection period, will be implemented in UK law.

The ongoing police led, multi agency Operation Pentameter 2 has provided us with an opportunity to pilot some elements of the Convention, including a process of victim identification and a period of at least 30 days for victims to reflect and start to make a recovery. Consulting on options and testing them in real operations is part of our strategy to ensure that the process we finally adopt is fit for purpose and as simple and cost effective as possible. The results of this pilot and wider discussions will inform how we establish UK compliance with Article 13.

4. We again urge the Government to drop its reservation to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, in order to ensure that the protection of the child victims of trafficking is not compromised in any way.

The UK provides for children, who arrive in the UK and remain here lawfully, through processes that are intended to be consistent with the Convention. The care and welfare arrangements for those children who are present in the United Kingdom in breach of UK Immigration Rules are also considered to be consistent with the Convention. The interests and rights of asylum seeking children and young people are fully respected. The key human rights of children are protected under the Human Rights Act 1998, which applies, without exception, to all children in the UK. Children are also protected under the 1951 UN Convention on Refugees and the European Convention on Human Rights.

The UK Government's view is that effective immigration control could be compromised were it to withdraw or narrow the extent of the general Reservation with regard to matters of immigration or nationality. The partial reservations entered by other states demonstrate that the United Kingdom is not alone in this belief. Other European States have restricted, in various ways, the effect of the Convention on their immigration and/or nationality legislation. However, the Reservation on Article 22 needs to be considered within the context of the law and practices of the United Kingdom. Removal of the Reservation would allow others an additional opportunity to intervene in immigration processes. There is a risk that this would, on occasions, be used to frustrate effective immigration control. We do not believe that the effect of the Reservation extends beyond matters of immigration and nationality, by reason of the various Children Acts and orders, the effect of which apply equally to all children within the United Kingdom's boundaries, regardless of their immigration status or citizenship.

The UK Government has now legislated to place a specific statutory child safeguarding duty on the Border and Immigration Agency (BIA).

The UNCRC was not intended to provide new immigration and nationality rights, and the UK Government believes that its Reservation to the Convention is necessary in the interest of effective immigration control. However the UK Government believes that, notwithstanding the Reservation, there are appropriate social and legal mechanisms in place to ensure that all children present in the UK receive appropriate levels of protection and care. The UK Government is also of the view that the UNCRC reservation will not affect the full application of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings.

5. We recommend that the Government act positively to initiate and assist projects to support the victims of human trafficking and keep us informed of what is being done, including funding arrangements and access criteria.

Around £230 million is spent annually on supporting and compensating victims of crime.

The Government has funded the Poppy project to support adult women trafficked into the UK for sexual exploitation since 2003. In 2006 Eaves Housing for Women received a grant of £2.4 million to expand the services provided and financially secure the project until 2008. The Government is investing and additional £100K to top-up the grant during Pentameter 2. This takes the total investment to £4.5 million in the last five years.

However we also recognise the importance of integrating the needs of these victims into our wider local arrangements for victims of crime and Pentameter 2 provides an opportunity to help develop these local partnerships. The Council of Europe Convention imposes a framework for the provision of minimum rights to all identified victims of trafficking. We have given our commitment to implement the Convention which will enhance our existing arrangements.

6. We recommend that the Government publish an annual report to Parliament on its work in combating human trafficking and helping victims, based on the Action Plan published earlier this year, and including an account of the activities of the UK Human Trafficking Centre.

We welcome the interest of the JCHR, the All Party Parliamentary Group and Parliament generally in the subject of human trafficking and regularly provide information about progress in this area to interested parties through a variety of mechanisms. The UK Action Plan draws together all the work that is underway across government and in other agencies on human trafficking and will be updated annually with copies being sent to the JCHR as well as being deposited in the House libraries. In addition to the update provided in the Action Plan, the UK Human Trafficking Centre plan to publish an annual report of their activities at the end of the financial year.