Immigration and Asylum Bill (Fourteenth sitting)
I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time. The new clause would require the Secretary of State to introduce legislation that would ensure that the UK is compliant with the Council of Europe convention on action against trafficking in human beings, and subsequently report on the UK’s compliance with the convention. I hope that is not overly contentious, given that we should seek to maintain our compliance with organisations such as the Council of Europe. The UK ratified ECAT in December 2008 and it came into force in 2009. It was the first treaty to put survivor protection at its centre, with binding standards on identification, support, recovery and prosecution. It has never been fully incorporated into primary legislation, so protections can be narrowed administratively without proper scrutiny, which concerns us. Compliance is monitored by the group of experts on action against trafficking in human beings, whose fourth report to the UK found that referrals under the national referral mechanism rose from 12,687 in 2021 to 17,000 in the first nine months of 2025. The group commended faster identification and stronger enforcement, but found ongoing gaps in victim protection and legal support. This is about not just foreign nationals but British people, the most common nationality referred. Labour exploitation was found to be the main reason for referral, while for children it was criminal exploitation, notably county lines, so the new clause would have a wider purpose. I have previously made the point to the Minister that if we are not compliant with the convention, it will open us up to legal challenges down the line, which we would not want the Bill to do, for the sake of the country. I invite the Minister to comment on that and look forward to hearing what she has to say.