Written question asked by Caroline Spelman (Conservative) on Thursday, 12 October 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 16 October 2006. It was answered by Lord Coaker (Labour) on Tuesday, 24 October 2006 on behalf of the Home Office.

Human Trafficking

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate the Government have made of the extent of human trafficking in the UK.

Answer: The majority of our knowledge regarding the extent of human trafficking in the UK relates to trafficking for sexual exploitation. It remains difficult to make an accurate assessment of the extent of the problem although intelligence suggests there has been an increase in the trafficking problem over the last two or three years. The emerging findings from a Home Office research paper due to be published later this year suggests that at any one time in 2003 there were in the region of 4,000 victims of trafficking for prostitution in the UK. An analysis of the information obtained from Operation Pentameter will assist in further developing our understanding of the scale of the problem in this area.We do not have sufficient evidence regarding trafficking for purposes other than sexual exploitation (e.g. forced labour or child trafficking) to enable us to make a full assessment of whether these pose a significant problem for the UK. We are actively looking at ways in which our knowledge of these areas can be improved and the Home Office is currently working in partnership with the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) on a specific intelligence gathering project to improve our knowledge of the scope of child trafficking into and within the UK. CEOP is expected to report its findings later in the year.

Secondary information