Background
The Joint Committee
The committee is comprised of Members of the House of Commons and House of Lords and has been formed to scrutinise the Government’s draft Modern Slavery Bill and make recommendations for its improvement
The draft Modern Slavery Bill
The draft Bill proposes to consolidate and simplify existing criminal offences relating to slavery and human trafficking and introduce civil orders to restrict the activity of those involved in or convicted of slavery and trafficking offences. The draft Bill also proposes the appointment of an Anti-Slavery Commissioner to encourage good practice in the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of offences.
The draft Bill was published on 16 December 2013 alongside a white paper detailing the Government’s non-legislative approach to modern slavery.
The Call for evidence
Written evidence was sought from all interested parties on the content and form of the draft Bill, its likely effectiveness and the contribution it would, if enacted, make to tackling modern slavery.
Evidence addressing the following questions was particularly welcomed:
Would the draft Bill be effective in reducing the incidence of and preventing modern slavery?
Are there other provisions which should be included in the draft Bill?
What non-legislative action needs to be taken to ensure effective implementation of the draft Bill?
Does the draft Bill achieve its objectives effectively and fairly?
Does the draft Bill provide for adequate safeguarding of survivors of slavery and trafficking?
How could the proposals for the Anti-Slavery Commissioner be improved?