Written question asked by John Bercow (Conservative) on Monday, 8 May 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 10 May 2006. It was answered by Lord Coaker (Labour) on Tuesday, 23 May 2006 on behalf of the Home Office.

People Trafficking

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps are being taken by his Department to tackle organised criminal gangs engaged in trafficking.

Answer: The Government set up the Serious Organised Crime Agency with effect from 1 April 2006 to prevent and detect serious organised crime, and to reduce the harm it causes. Among its top priorities are tackling class A drugs trafficking and organised immigration crime. Also with effect from 1 April 2006 we introduced new powers to:"compel individuals to produce documents and provide explanations;compel individuals to produce documents and provide explanations;""offer sentence reductions or immunity from prosecution to offenders who co-operate against their criminal colleagues.offer sentence reductions or immunity from prosecution to offenders who co-operate against their criminal colleagues."We continue to tackle trafficking through Reflex, a multi-agency task force aimed at tackling organised immigration crime. In February, a Reflex funded multi-agency initiative, Operation Pentameter, was launched to tackle the trafficking of human beings for sexual exploitation. All UK police forces and the Immigration Service have been involved in this initiative which has already made a real impact and to date has rescued 75 women from traffickers and made 180 arrests.

Secondary information