A Commissioner with influence Working with the voluntary sector

The CSJ believes it is essential for the Anti-Slavery Commissioner to engage with NGOs working in the area of anti-trafficking. It should act as a helpful intermediary between government and the voluntary sector, facilitating coordination. The Anti-Slavery Commissioner should also encourage transparency in the work of NGOs and offer a forum for the sharing of information. There is much good work amongst NGOs in this sector, however the CSJ has heard reports of some damaging territorialism that serves to hinder a coordinated response on the ground. The Anti-Slavery Commissioner should also serve as a central hub of information on the activity of anti-trafficking NGOs working in this field. The Anti-Slavery Commissioner should be given a mandate to collate information on the different approaches to survivor care, awareness-raising and training of the myriad of organisations working in the sector, and to bring a new level of transparency and inclusion. In doing so the Commissioner

It Happens Here | Effective strategic leadership 65

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would become the repository of best practice. In time it may be appropriate for the Commissioner to take on a more active role in monitoring and even accrediting NGOs working in this field. This work would build on the resources recently made available by the Home Office to ‘fund awareness-raising activities for front-line professionals to standardise key anti-trafficking messages and assist them in identifying potential victims of modern slavery’.34

The National Referral Mechanism

The Anti-Slavery Commissioner should maintain independent oversight of the decisions of Competent Authorities in the NRM.35 _{It should also help to overcome the current conflict}

of interests that comes with the Home Office attempting to monitor its own mechanism.36

International accountability

There is a significant need for a network of national reference points to be developed at a European and global level in order to improve information sharing. At present, the UK presents a confusing picture on the international stage. Other equivalent roles have registered concerns that there is no nationally accountable individual for them to communicate with in the UK, specifically on issues of modern slavery. The UK must, as the Prime Minister has asserted, become a ‘world leader’ in the fight against modern slavery, and cease to lag behind other nations who have recognised the need for an independent national figure to harness efforts to tackle the crime.37

Holding source countries to account

The source countries for victims of modern slavery fluctuate according to varying international and geo-political factors. However, there remain some countries which are consistently at the top of the list. The Anti-Slavery Commissioner should work with the Government to explore ring-fencing international financial assistance to top source countries in order to ensure that a portion of assistance is committed to developing safeguards against human trafficking and modern slavery, and is also used to support survivors who are returning to their country of origin. Returns are explored in Chapter Six, section 6.10. Recognising the need for the worst- offending countries to engage with the problem of modern slavery is crucial if the UK is to tackle the root cause of the problem. The Anti-Slavery Commissioner should press these countries to bring in reforms to reduce modern slavery. Sanctions should also be considered for countries which persistently feature as source countries for victims, in the event that ring fencing is not effective.

Holding government to account

Like the Children’s Commissioner, the Anti-Slavery Commissioner should have statutory authority to request information and conduct unannounced visits. This approach has already yielded results for the Children’s Commissioner who, using their statutory powers, exposed the damaging ‘Gentleman’s Agreement’ at Dover port, which shockingly allowed UKBA

34 Home Office, information letter for funding for awareness-raising activities, submitted by Kalayaan in evidence to the CSJ, December 2012 35 Current Competent Authorities are the UK Human Trafficking Centre and the UK Border Agency; both are given the authority to make

decisions over whether or not a person is a victim of human trafficking and in need of support. Competent Authorities and the National Referral Mechanism are discussed in Chapter Three

36 See section 3.6 in Chapter Three

37 The Independent, UK signs trafficking directive after 10-month delay, 27 March 2011 [accessed via: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/ crime/uk-signs-trafficking-directive-after-10month-delay-2254137.html (06/02/13)]

officers to send children back to France or Belgium before they had claimed asylum, been risk assessed or even been referred to social services or the NRM, under an agreement between the three countries. The Children’s Commissioner called for the immediate cessation of this practice, and it was stopped.38

Future remit

As is the case for the Children’s Commissioner for England, the Anti-Slavery Commissioner should be subject to an independent review – the CSJ recommends that this be conducted two years after it is established – to ensure that it is adding value.39 _{Additional elements of the}

Anti-Slavery Commissioner’s role which could be considered in the future, after the position has been assessed, may include the accreditation of NGOs, the hosting of a national hotline, and a role in monitoring minimum standards of aftercare and reintegration for aftercare providers.

2.6 Recommendations

38 Office of the Children’s Commissioner, Landing in Dover: The immigration process undergone by unaccompanied children arriving in Kent, London: Office of the Children’s Commissioner, January 2012, p8

39 Dunford J, Review of the Office of the Children’s Commissioner (England), London: Department for Education, December 2010

„

„ An Anti-Slavery Commissioner should be established to develop independent monitoring and reporting on the UK’s response to modern slavery.

„

„ Effective coordination should be developed between the IDMG and the Anti-Slavery Commissioner.

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„ More effective information and intelligence sharing should be established within the NGO sector, through encouraging engagement with the independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner.

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„ The Anti-Slavery Commissioner should work with the Government to develop ring fencing or sanctions on international financial assistance to countries which are persistently top source countries for victims of modern slavery.

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„ An independent review of the Anti-Slavery Commissioner should be conducted after it is established, to ensure that it is adding value.

It Happens Here | Building a clearer picture: enhancing the National Referral Mechanism 67 thr ee

chapter three

Building a clearer

picture: enhancing

the National Referral