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Human Trafficking

Question for Home Office

UIN HL5168, tabled on 24 February 2015

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to improve measures to curb human trafficking, in the light of a reported lack of information on the money trails in the anti-trafficking sector.

Answered on

9 March 2015

We are determined to attack the profits of traffickers and slave drivers through greater use of asset recovery and financial investigation. Effective asset recovery is a critical tool in tackling modern slavery and wider organised crime, given that many perpetrators are motivated by financial gain.

The Bill makes both modern slavery offences - slavery, servitude and forced labour and human trafficking - "criminal lifestyle" offences, making perpetrators subject to the most robust confiscation regime available under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA). The Serious Crime Bill will also amend POCA to enable law enforcement agencies to seize criminal assets more quickly, close loopholes that criminals use to get round confiscation and crack down on those who try to avoid paying them.

The Modern Slavery Strategy recognises that recovering more criminal assets is a key part of disrupting criminal activity, including those responsible for modern slavery offences. We are therefore working, as part of our work with partners across government, to improve asset recovery to ensure that all operational agencies are aware of the tools available for the recovery of assets, and use them effectively and in the right cases.

Answered by

Home Office