Modern Slavery Act 2015

• Human trafficking and modern slavery are heinous crimes. Supporting councils to tackle modern slavery is a key priority area for the LGA’s Safer and Stronger Communities Board.
• Councils have multiple roles in tackling modern slavery, including identifying and referring victims, supporting victims, disrupting perpetrators and ensuring that the supply chains they procure from are free from modern slavery. Many councils have also established modern slavery teams or services, and there are examples of good partnership working to tackle modern slavery and human trafficking.
• The support that victims of modern slavery require often puts further strain on services already under significant pressure, notably housing and social care. For example, there are particular issues with the provision of local accommodation for victims before they enter the National Referral Mechanism (NRM), due to general challenges with housing supply and temporary accommodation. Councils have never received new burdens funding to support any activity on tackling modern slavery or supporting victims. As such, not all councils have been able to financially support a modern slavery team or dedicated lead officer, with the role often absorbed on top of an existing full-time role.
• Where funding can be identified or secured – including from the local Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) – to support dedicated teams or services (such as accommodation), this often leads to the best outcomes for victims. The LGA would welcome funding to enable each local authority to hire a dedicated Modern Slavery Coordinator.
• There are some important parallels that could be drawn with the support victims of domestic abuse receive, given the similarities in the type of support that is often required, and with victims’ eligibility under different pieces of legislation. In particular, specific funding was made available under the Domestic Abuse Act for accommodation-based support to help victims get the support they need. The LGA would like to see a similar approach to tackling modern slavery.
• The LGA has long called for a new Modern Slavery Bill. We would like the Bill to clarify in domestic law the support victims of modern slavery are entitled to. At the moment, the picture can be very complex, with victims having potential entitlements if they have certain characteristics (such as needs under the Care Act, or their immigration status) or under international law.
• We would also like to see an updated modern slavery strategy setting out the Government’s multi-faceted approach to tackling modern slavery. In particular, we would like this to include strategic guidance on local modern slavery partnerships, an area on which the Government has yet to provide any guidance or information on its expectations and best practice.
• To support councils with their work to tackle modern slavery, the LGA published comprehensive guidance for councils. Alongside an overview of modern slavery and the UK framework for tackling it, there are targeted sections for officers working in different council services such as children’s services, adult social care, housing, community and regulatory services, as well as a section on supply chains. This is supported by a maturity matrix enabling councils to assess their work and progress on this issue. The LGA has also established a national network of council officers working on modern slavery to share learning and best practice and discuss common challenges of working on this issue, based on the model of our community safety advisers’ network.

• The LGA does not have any insight on modern slavery trends internationally. However, one trend of modern slavery domestically which councils are increasingly concerned about is the prevalence of ‘cuckooing’ and the impact this has on some of the most vulnerable members of society.
• ‘Cuckooing’ is a form of exploitation that has grown in prominence over recent years and is often associated with county lines drug dealing. Cuckooing involves an individual or group of people taking over a person’s home and using it to facilitate exploitation. Most commonly the home will be used to use, store or deal drugs, but it can also be used to store stolen or illegal goods or by men and women selling sexual services.
• Anyone can be a victim of cuckooing. However, often the victim is vulnerable and will be offered something, such as drugs, alcohol or friendship, in return for allowing perpetrators to use their property. Vulnerable groups include class A drug users, adults with physical or mental health problems, people with learning difficulties, people who misuse other substances such as alcohol, those recently released from custody and the elderly.
• Victims are often subject to threats by perpetrators as a means of control. Debt bondage is a common theme in cuckooing, along with the threat of violence. Sometimes victims will become homeless after being forced to leave their address in fear of violence from gang members. Gangs often move to and/or between different addresses in an effort to evade detection. Vulnerable adults with premises are often exploited repeatedly by different gangs, sometimes within a short period of time.
• Councils face a number of challenges around cuckooing. Often, victims will be reluctant to disclose that they are being exploited, either because they are fearful of the perpetrators, or they wrongly believe the perpetrator is a friend. If they do not disclose the abuse, victims may continue to be persecuted and offers of support (such as the NRM or alternative accommodation) can be complicated due to criteria and barriers for victims (most often substance use, criminality, and associated anti-social behaviour).
• There are a range of enforcement activities that councils use, in partnership with the police, to disrupt perpetrators. Many councils use closure orders which restrict who can enter a property. The Antisocial Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 allows the police and councils to request the closure of premises associated with nuisance or disorder. They can issue a closure notice for a maximum of 48 hours, but they can also apply to the magistrate’s court for a closure notice up to a maximum of six months overall, and this can prohibit specified individuals from entering the property. Breaking a closure order is a criminal offence punishable by imprisonment, meaning police can immediately arrest unwanted people found in a home with a closure order on it. As well as disrupting the exploiters, this also gives councils the opportunity to support the victim and take steps to prevent any further exploitation from occurring.
• Whilst effective, this process can take a significant amount of time, and it can be challenging to evidence the need for a closure order. It would be far easier if councils and the police could prosecute for ‘cuckooing’.
• The inability to prosecute for ‘cuckooing’ means authorities spend weeks disrupting activity and supporting victims of a cuckooed address and as soon as the situation is resolved (namely, the victim is safeguarded and the property is closed down) the perpetrators simply move to a nearby address targeting another vulnerable person and authorities start the process again. There is nothing to dissuade perpetrators from taking over addresses.
• The LGA has previously called on the Home Office to make cuckooing a specific criminal offence and it is welcome the Government plans to legislate for this in the Crime and Policing Bill Councils would want to work on a multi-agency basis to make this determination, and partners should have the ability to make this determination without the victim having to make a disclosure.

• Local government seeks to play an important role in discouraging trafficking. Many councils use their extensive buying power to reduce the risks of modern slavery occurring in their supply chain by adopting and embedding processes and procedures, in both procurement and contract management. Councils also work with local businesses and SMEs to raise awareness and provide support to their efforts to tackle slavery in their supply chains.
• Additionally, many councils carry out due diligence in key high-risk areas of our domestic supply chains, such as social care, construction, agriculture and food processing which can help disrupt criminal gangs infiltrating the contracts councils tender for with cheap, trafficked labour.
• The LGA supports the extension of the existing Modern Slavery Act to include public sector organisations, including councils and Fire and Rescue Services, in scope of Section 54 which focuses on transparency in supply chains. Many councils have already demonstrated their commitment to promoting a human rights approach towards procurement by publishing a modern slavery transparency statement on a voluntary basis. By summer 2022, over half the councils in England and Wales had done so. Extending the statutory requirements will provide further clarity and assurance to existing processes and practices by council procurement and commercial teams, and will further help mitigate the risk of modern slavery in our supply chains.

• The LGA has long called for a new Modern Slavery Bill. Councils play a crucial role in supporting victims of modern slavery. Depending on the age and needs of victims of modern slavery, councils may have statutory responsibilities to provide support to them.
• The position in relation to child victims is straightforward. Under the Children Act 1989, where a council has reason to believe that a child (irrespective of immigration status) may suffer or is suffering significant harm, they are under a duty to investigate whether any action is needed to protect the welfare of that child. The Act also sets out a general duty on councils to safeguard and promote the welfare of children within their area who are in need.
• The picture in relation to adult victims is less straightforward. Victims of modern slavery who choose to enter the national referral mechanism (NRM) (which many do not wish to do) are entitled to support from the Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract. However, this is not intended to displace any local support they may be eligible for. The support a person is entitled to depends on individual needs (particularly if they have care and support needs as defined by the Care Act 2014) and their immigration status.
• Adult victims of modern slavery may be entitled to the following support:
  • Housing Act 1996: under this legislation, local housing authorities may owe victims of modern slavery a range of duties: prevention/relief duty, the duty to provide interim accommodation, and the main homelessness duty (owed to some of those in priority need). The homelessness code of guidance was updated in summer 2021 specifically to reflect these duties more clearly. However, a victim may not be entitled to support, for example, if they do not enter the NRM or if they have no recourse to public funds.
  • Care Act 2014: adult social care can be a route for victims of modern slavery or human trafficking to access support if the adult has care and support needs and is unable to protect themselves. The legal framework, approach to and process for adult safeguarding is set out in the Care Act 2014, which recognises modern slavery as a category of abuse. However, victims of modern slavery may not have care and support needs as defined by the Care Act, and councils, so support may rely on councils and their partners being able to put different wraparound support structures in place to ensure victims’ and survivors’ needs are met.
  • Localism Act 2011: the general power of competence introduced in the Localism Act provides councils the same broad powers as an individual to do anything unless it is prohibited by statute. Councils have been encouraged to use this power to provide support for victims of modern slavery who do not otherwise have entitlement to access local services and/or to avoid breaching the wider international obligations.
• However, many adult victims will not be eligible for this support, due to their immigration status for example.
• Alongside domestic legislation, the UK has signed up to different conventions which entail different obligations, including the European Convention on Human Rights, Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings 2005 and EU Anti-Trafficking Directive.
• The LGA raised with the Home Office under the previous government that some of the international commitments the UK has signed up to may be interpreted as going beyond the domestic legislation that councils apply in relation to adult victims and that there is a need to ensure domestic law is aligned to the international duties the UK is bound by, and the case law relating to it, to help ensure that there is clarity and understanding about the support that should be provided and by whom.
• Specifically, it should be clear when/whether a person should be provided with local (rather than through the Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract) support for being a victim of modern slavery, or whether they have to meet normal thresholds outlined in other existing legislation. Clarity will help improve consistency in the support that victims receive, and we hope the new Modern Slavery Bill will contain such provisions.
• A key challenge councils face is funding and capacity. Councils have never received dedicated funding to support victims of modern slavery. Consequently, there are real challenges in under pressure services supporting victims of modern slavery without additional capacity, notably in housing and social care.
• There are particular issues with the provision of pre-NRM accommodation for adult victims, who are destitute/ineligible for council support and/or unable to access support elsewhere. Some local areas have provided their own emergency pre-NRM/ interim accommodation. For example, the West Midlands Anti-Slavery Network ‘SafePlace’ project, funded by the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner, provides male survivors with safe accommodation for up to 10 days post exploitation/pre-NRM. This allows survivors to access emergency support needs, access information on their rights and entitlements, and to make a decision on whether to enter the NRM. However, not all councils are able to provide this service given the significant shortages of housing stock and suitable temporary accommodation, or, because they do not have budget to commission emergency accommodation.
• Increasing numbers of councils have identified modern slavery lead officers and participate in local anti-slavery partnerships, which has proven effective in improving responses to victim support. However, not all councils have been able to financially support a modern slavery team or dedicated lead officer, with the role often absorbed on top of an existing full-time role. This lack of capacity can affect the extent of the support councils can provide.
• Where funding can be identified to support dedicated teams or services, this often leads to the best outcomes for victims. The LGA would welcome funding to enable each local authority to hire a dedicated Modern Slavery Coordinator.
• There are some important parallels that should be drawn with the support victims of domestic abuse receive. In particular, under the Domestic Abuse Act specific funding was made available for accommodation to help victims get the support they need. The LGA would like to see a similar approach to tackling modern slavery.
• As previously mentioned, the LGA also supports the extension of the existing Modern Slavery Act to include public sector organisations, including councils and Fire and Rescue Services, in scope of Section 54 which focuses on transparency in supply chains.
• We would also like to see an updated modern slavery strategy setting out the Government’s multi-faceted approach to tackling modern slavery. In particular, we would like this to include strategic guidance on local modern slavery partnerships, an area on which the Government has yet to provide any guidance or information on its expectations and best practice. Councils would find it helpful if an updated Modern Slavery Bill or strategy really emphasised the importance of partnership working. We are disappointed that the planned strategy has not yet been published but would welcome the opportunity to work closely with the Government on this.

Arian Nemati, Public Affairs and Campaigns adviser

Email: [email protected]