Written question asked by Diana Johnson (Labour) on Monday, 17 October 2016, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 19 October 2016. It was answered by Sarah Newton (Conservative) on Tuesday, 25 October 2016 on behalf of the Home Office.

Slavery: Convictions

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many convictions for slavery and human trafficking there have been under (a) each of the old offences before the passage of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and (b) each of the new offences following the passage of that Act in each year since 2009-10; and how many of those convicted were imprisoned for the maximum possible period for each of these offences.

Answer

The table shows the numbers of defendants prosecuted, convicted and sentenced for slavery and trafficking offences, on a principal offence basis, between 2009 and 2015. The figures do not cover instances where perpetrators of modern slavery have been prosecuted and convicted using non-slavery offences, or where their illegal activities were disrupted by other means.

The criminal justice provisions in the Modern Slavery Act were commenced on 31 July 2015, so prosecutions under the Act only apply to criminal conduct alleged to have taken place since that date. Offences occurring before the commencement of the Modern Slavery Act will still be prosecuted under the previous legislation. Despite the very recent introduction of the new offences and the time it takes for law enforcement to bring complex cases involving modern slavery to trial, 12 defendants had already been prosecuted under the Act in 2015.

Offence category	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
Total
Proceeded against	47	31	43	33	60	98	117
Found guilty	25	16	9	13	28	39	31
Sentenced	25	16	9	13	28	39	30
of which were given a maximum custodial sentence ⁽³⁾⁽⁴⁾	-	-	-	-	1	-	-
Slavery, servitude and forced labour
Proceeded against	-	1	22	4	10	25	30
Found guilty	-	-	1	1	9	8	9
Sentenced	-	-	1	1	9	8	9
of which were given a maximum custodial sentence (14 years) ⁽³⁾⁽⁴⁾	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Trafficking for sexual exploitation
Proceeded against	33	24	10	16	33	49	38
Found guilty	23	10	8	10	12	4	14
Sentenced	23	10	8	10	12	4	14
of which were given a maximum custodial sentence (14 years) ⁽³⁾⁽⁴⁾	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Trafficking for non-sexual exploitation
Proceeded against	14	6	11	13	17	24	37
Found guilty	2	6	-	2	7	27	8
Sentenced	2	6	-	2	7	27	7
of which were given a maximum custodial sentence (14 years) ⁽³⁾⁽⁴⁾	-	-	-	-	1	-	-

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 48815
Session: 2016-17
Related items: Slavery: Convictions
Friday, 10 February 2017
Written questions
House of Commons
Subjects: Convictions Custodial treatment Slavery Exploitation
Legislation: Modern Slavery Act 2015
Contains statistics: Yes
Link: View this Written question on www.parliament.uk

Slavery: Convictions

Secondary information

Librarians' tools