Letter from Alan Campbell MP, Parliamentary
Under Secretary of State, Home Office
Thank you for your letter of 27 October 2009
requesting details of the future of the Metropolitan Police Service
(MPS) Human Trafficking Team.
First, may I apologise for the delay in responding
to you letter, which is due to an administrative error.
As you will be aware, the status of the MPS
human trafficking team has been part of an MPS strategic review
of organised immigration crime. On 11 December 2009 the outcome
of that review was announced. Overall responsibility for the MPS's
anti-trafficking work will transfer to the Clubs and Vice Unit,
which will expand its remit to cover all forms of human trafficking
(including labour trafficking) and in turn will move to the Specialist
Crime Directorate, which deal with organised crime and house the
outgoing Human Trafficking Team.
The government has provided £2.3 million
to the MPS for its work on organised immigration crime, which
includes human trafficking, between 2007 when the trafficking
team was established, and 2008-09. As we pointed out in our written
response to the Home Affairs Select Committee report on human
trafficking in August 2009, this funding was provided on a time
limited basis. Our expectation was that it would be used to pump-prime
work and mainstream it into the MPS core budget and business.
It became apparent however that the MPS was
not going to achieve this by end of the financial year 2008-09.
The Government therefore agreed to provide an additional an exceptional
contribution of £435,000 for the current financial year.
This gave the MPS extra time to put in place a more long term
arrangement for its anti trafficking work.
Decisions on how to deploy police resources
at the MPS are the responsibility of the Commissioner and his
senior management team. Assistant Commissioner Cressida Dick has
announced that moving responsibility for human trafficking into
one single command will mean better co-ordination, less duplication
and more accountability in the service provided to victims along
with an increased focus on organised crime supported by the assets
of the Specialist Crime Directorate.
I trust this new arrangement will ensure that
the MPS can continue to build on the progress it has made in dealing
effectively with human trafficking.
20 January 2010
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