Modern Slavery Bill (HL Bill 51)

(1) 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.

(2) 30In making arrangements under subsection (1) 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.

(3) The arrangements may include provision for payments to be made to, or in
35relation to, persons carrying out functions in accordance with the
arrangements.

(4) The Secretary of State may make regulations about child trafficking advocates,
and may in particular make provision—

(a) about the circumstances in which, and any conditions subject to which,
40a person may act as a child trafficking advocate;

(b) for the appointment of a person as a child trafficking advocate to be
subject to approval in accordance with the regulations;

(c) about the functions of child trafficking advocates;

(d) requiring public authorities to co-operate with, and provide
information to, child trafficking advocates.

(5) A person exercising the functions of a child trafficking advocate in relation to
a child must act in the child’s best interests.

(6) 5The Secretary of State must, no later than 9 months after the day on which this
Act is passed, lay before Parliament a report on the steps the Secretary of State
proposes to take in relation to the powers conferred by this section.

48 Guidance about identifying and supporting victims

(1) The Secretary of State must issue guidance to such public authorities and other
10persons as the Secretary of State considers appropriate about—

(a) the sorts of things which indicate that a person may be a victim of
slavery or human trafficking;

(b) arrangements for providing assistance and support to persons who
there is reason to believe may be victims of slavery or human
15trafficking;

(c) arrangements for determining whether a person is to be treated as a
victim of slavery or human trafficking.

(2) The Secretary of State may, from time to time, revise the guidance issued under
subsection (1).

(3) 20The Secretary of State must arrange for any guidance issued or revised under
this section to be published in a way the Secretary of State considers
appropriate.

49 Presumption about age

(1) This section applies where—

(a) 25a public authority with functions under relevant arrangements has
reason to believe a person may be a victim of human trafficking, and

(b) the authority is not certain of the person’s age but has reason to believe
the person may be under 18.

(2) Until an assessment of the person’s age is carried out by a local authority or the
30person’s age is otherwise determined, the public authority must assume for the
purposes of its functions under relevant arrangements that the person is under
18.

(3) “Relevant arrangements” means arrangements for providing assistance and
support to persons who there is reason to believe may be victims of human
35trafficking, as set out in guidance issued under section 48(1)(b).

(4) “Local authority” has the same meaning as in the Children Act 1989 (see section
105 of that Act).

50 Duty to notify NCA about suspected victims of slavery or human trafficking

(1) A specified public authority must notify the National Crime Agency if it has
40reason to believe that a person may be a victim of slavery or human trafficking.

(2) The Secretary of State may by regulations make provision about the
information to be included in a notification.

(3) The regulations must provide that a notification relating to a person aged 18 or
over may not include information that—

(a) identifies the person, or

(b) enables the person to be identified (either by itself or in combination
5with other information),

unless the person consents to the inclusion of the information.

(4) The regulations may not require information to be included if its inclusion
would result in a disclosure which contravenes the Data Protection Act 1998.

(5) In this section “specified public authority” means a public authority specified
10in regulations made by the Secretary of State for the purposes of this section.

Part 6 Transparency in supply chains etc

51 Transparency in supply chains etc

(1) A commercial organisation within subsection (2) must prepare a slavery and
15human trafficking statement for each financial year of the organisation.

(2) A commercial organisation is within this subsection if it—

(a) supplies goods or services, and

(b) has a total turnover of not less than an amount prescribed by
regulations made by the Secretary of State.

(3) 20For the purposes of subsection (2)(b), an organisation’s total turnover is to be
determined in accordance with regulations made by the Secretary of State.

(4) A slavery and human trafficking statement for a financial year is—

(a) a statement of the steps the organisation has taken during the financial
year to ensure that slavery and human trafficking is not taking place—

(i) 25in any of its supply chains, and

(ii) in any part of its own business, or

(b) a statement that the organisation has taken no such steps.

(5) If the organisation has a website, it must—

(a) publish the slavery and human trafficking statement on that website,
30and

(b) include a link to the slavery and human trafficking statement in a
prominent place on that website’s homepage.

(6) If the organisation does not have a website, it must provide a copy of the
slavery and human trafficking statement to anyone who makes a written
35request for one, and must do so before the end of the period of 30 days
beginning with the day on which the request is received.

(7) The Secretary of State—

(a) may issue guidance about the duties imposed on commercial
organisations by this section;

(b) 40must publish any such guidance in a way the Secretary of State
considers appropriate.

(8) The guidance may in particular include guidance about the kind of
information which may be included in a slavery and human trafficking
statement.

(9) The duties imposed on commercial organisations by this section are
5enforceable by the Secretary of State bringing civil proceedings in the High
Court for an injunction or, in Scotland, for specific performance of a statutory
duty under section 45 of the Court of Session Act 1988.

(10) For the purposes of this section—

• “commercial organisation” means—

  (a)

  10a body corporate (wherever incorporated) which carries on a
  business, or part of a business, in any part of the United
  Kingdom, or

  (b)

  a partnership (wherever formed) which carries on a business, or
  part of a business, in any part of the United Kingdom,

  15and for this purpose “business” includes a trade or profession;

• “partnership” means—

  (a)

  a partnership within the Partnership Act 1890,

  (b)

  a limited partnership registered under the Limited Partnerships
  Act 1907, or

  (c)

  20a firm, or an entity of a similar character, formed under the law
  of a country outside the United Kingdom;

• “slavery and human trafficking” means—

  (a)

  conduct which constitutes an offence under any of the
  following—

  (i)

  25section 1, 2 or 4 of this Act,

  (ii)

  section 57, 58, 58A or 59 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003
  (trafficking for sexual exploitation),

  (iii)

  section 22 of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2003
  (asp 7) (traffic in prostitution etc),

  (iv)

  30section 4 of the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of
  Claimants, etc.) Act 2004 (trafficking for exploitation),

  (v)

  section 71 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 (slavery,
  servitude and forced or compulsory labour),

  (vi)

  section 47 of the Criminal Justice and Licensing
  35(Scotland) Act 2010 (asp 13)2010 (asp 13) (slavery, servitude and
  forced or compulsory labour), or

  (b)

  conduct which would constitute an offence in a part of the
  United Kingdom under any of those provisions if the conduct
  took place in that part of the United Kingdom.

40Part 7 Final provisions

52 Interpretation

(1) For the purposes of this Act a person is a victim of slavery if he or she is a victim
of—

(a) 45conduct which constitutes an offence under section 1, or

(b) conduct which would have constituted an offence under that section if
that section had been in force when the conduct occurred.

(2) For the purposes of this Act a person is a victim of human trafficking if he or
she is the victim of—

(a) 5conduct which constitutes an offence under section 2, or would
constitute an offence under that section if the person responsible for the
conduct were a UK national, or

(b) conduct which would have been within paragraph (a) if section 2 had
been in force when the conduct occurred.

(3) 10In this Act—

• “country” includes territory or other part of the world;

• “immigration officer” means a person appointed as an immigration
  officer under paragraph 1 of Schedule 2 to the Immigration Act 1971;

• “public authority” means any public authority within the meaning of
  15section 6 of the Human Rights Act 1998 (other than a court or tribunal);

• “UK national” has the meaning given by section 13.

53 Consequential provision

(1) Schedule 4 contains minor and consequential amendments.

(2) The Secretary of State may by regulations make whatever provision the
20Secretary of State thinks appropriate in consequence of this Act.

(3) The provision which may be made by regulations under subsection (2)
includes provision amending, repealing or revoking any provision of an Act or
subordinate legislation (including an Act passed or subordinate legislation
made in the same session as this Act).

54 25Regulations

(1) Any power of the Secretary of State to make regulations under this Act is
exercisable by statutory instrument.

(2) A statutory instrument containing regulations made by the Secretary of State
under this Act is subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either
30House of Parliament, unless—

(a) it contains only regulations under section 57 (commencement), or

(b) it contains regulations to which subsection (4) applies.

(3) A statutory instrument containing regulations to which subsection (4) applies
may not be made unless a draft of the instrument has been laid before, and
35approved by a resolution of, each House of Parliament.

(4) This section applies to—

(a) regulations under section 14(4) (power to amend Schedule 1);

(b) regulations under section 31(1) (power to amend section 30);

(c) regulations under section 45(8) (power to amend Schedule 3);

(d) 40regulations under section 47(4) (child trafficking advocates);

(e) regulations under section 51(2) (transparency in supply chains etc);”

(f) regulations under section 53(2) (consequential provision) which
amend, or repeal any provision of, an Act.