My Lords, the debate has shown that the House is unanimous on two points. The first is that my noble friend Lady Williams of Trafford should be congratulated, and the second is that the House did not much like the Government’s Bill. I associate myself wholly with the former, and I will seek to set out the Government’s position on the latter. Let me go through the amendments in turn.
Amendments 65 and 66 seek to remove Clauses 57 and 58 from the Bill entirely. The effect would be to remove modern slavery from the one-stop process and would mean that modern slavery claims would be dealt with separately from the one-stop process that addresses human rights and protection claims. That does not make much sense, for either the victims or the national referral mechanism, for at least two reasons. First, treating the two types of claims as distinct means that a victim might have to describe the same traumatic events repeatedly, which nobody wants to see. Secondly, decisions would be made about their future and their right to protection and support in isolation from, and perhaps in ignorance of, the full facts, which might mean that people who would otherwise get protection are denied it.
Those amendments, and Amendment 70ZA, do not make sense from the point of view of making the NRM an efficient, transparent and fair process. They display a lack of understanding about how the NRM works, where, in line with the low threshold for referral—I will come back to the thresholds later—we simply require relevant information at an early stage, even of a limited nature, to enable key issues to be identified from the outset. That allows early access to support and gives decision-makers a clearer picture of the individual’s experience, which in turn means a more
comprehensive decision, to be taken in the round, including, crucially, the victim’s age when the relevant exploitation took place.
Perhaps more than any other group, children will benefit from early identification and protection, and from having decisions made in respect of their status and their support with as full an awareness of relevant facts and context as possible. In response to the concerns of the noble Lord, Lord Coaker, echoed by the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Durham, we see no benefit to child victims in them raising modern slavery issues after any asylum or protection decisions have been made. That would only delay their ability to access the support and protection that they need.
I have read widely the briefings which I and other noble Lords have received, and seen that critics have argued, as has been said, that the clause will stop victims from coming forward. We do not see how a clause that encourages early disclosure of information and early identification, where any negative credibility implications are non-determinative and apply only when there are no good reasons for delay, would discourage victims from coming forward. As to evidence, I say again that the measure will allow for early identification, and we do not want victims to have to describe the same events repeatedly.
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Underlying all of that seems to be a misapprehension that Clauses 57 and 58 are aimed at stopping or discouraging claims. That is not the case. This is about the timing of the disclosure, not the fact of the disclosure.
In response to the question put by the noble Lord, Lord Coaker, and the noble and learned Baroness, Lady Butler-Sloss, about why modern slavery is addressed in an immigration Bill, there will inevitably be a relationship between individuals who enter both the immigration system and the national referral mechanism. We want to ensure that the systems work efficiently together to identify victims of modern slavery at the earliest opportunity and provide them with support. This approach helps to ensure that the protections which our systems provide are not misused by those seeking to frustrate their removal from the UK.
These clauses do not create trauma deadlines and they do not stop genuine victims from accessing the protections of the NRM. In response to concerns that the clauses will prevent individuals being identified, the new one-stop process is designed to encourage victims to come forward, creating new opportunities for victims to present information and be identified. Individuals subject to immigration control will be proactively asked about modern slavery and trafficking experiences in a structured way, supported by access to legal aid. Enhanced legal aid provision will mean that individuals receiving a notice are supported in understanding its meaning and the importance of raising information at the earliest possible opportunity.
Some of the criticisms assume that “damage to credibility” in Clause 58 is determinative. If I heard her correctly, the noble and learned Baroness, Lady Butler-Sloss, said that it would mean that someone who gives information late would not be believed or that information provided after the notice date would
not be accepted. Again, respectfully, that is not the case. Clauses 57 and 58 do not affect the state’s duty to identify victims and they do not prevent victims being referred into the NRM for identification. No matter when information is raised, all referrals will continue to be considered on a case-by-case basis, to ensure that those who need protection and support get it. More specifically, if an individual has a good reason for bringing a late claim, then the information will not be treated as late and the damage to credibility will not apply.
I have covered before how the good reasons test will encompass many of the standard counters to a negative credibility assessment; for example, results of coercion, trauma and mistrust of authority. In response to the noble Lord, Lord Coaker, that will include reasons connected to the age of the individual. How significant any damage to credibility is will be looked at in the wider factual and evidential context of the individual case.
Turning to Amendments 69 and 68A, as noble Lords have outlined, the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings—ECAT—envisages that recovery periods should be withheld on the grounds of public order and improper claims. The ongoing problem that the clause seeks to resolve is that ECAT does not define public order, and this has severely hindered our ability to disqualify dangerous individuals in practice. I was going to give the House a case study. I will not, as I do not want to delay the House, but there are cases where we simply are unable properly to use the public order exception because it has not been defined. The amendments, no doubt unintentionally, would mean that we would continue to be unable to remove dangerous individuals where it is lawful to do so and in line with our international obligations.
The best way to deliver what is set out in ECAT, and some operational clarity, is to introduce a definition of “public order” that includes serious criminality and risks to national security; that is what Clause 62 does. But let me be clear: the public order disqualification applies to individuals who have been convicted of the most serious offences, including, for example, terrorism-related offences. The noble Lord, Lord Coaker, spoke about Schedule 4 to the Modern Slavery Act. This covers crimes such as manslaughter, murder, violent acts, sexual offences and, as the noble Lord pointed out, burglary and robbery. We disagree with the characterisation of those offences as minor, as did Parliament back in 2015 when it passed the Modern Slavery Act with Schedule 4. We suggest that it is vital that the Government can withhold the protections of the NRM from such individuals. Even when an individual does fall within one of those categories, we have been clear that our approach to Clause 62 is discretionary; it is not a blanket exclusion. The specific circumstances of the individual case would none the less need to be, and would be, considered.
Amendment 68A also seeks to exclude children from the clause. I repeat the point that this would create a two-tier system, which could encourage those looking to misuse NRM protections to provide falsified information regarding their age. Of course, we recognise the specific vulnerabilities—