A new report published by the panel set up to review the Modern Slavery Act has had its key recommendations rejected by Home Secretary Sajid Javid.

The report, the first of four to be published by the review panel, looks exclusively at the role of the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner. It urges the Government to stop its current search for a new Commissioner, warning that key concerns about the independence of the role need to be addressed before the recruitment process can be undertaken.

The role of the Anti-Slavery Commissioner is found in Section 41 (1) of the Modern Slavery Act and states that: “The Commissioner must encourage good practice in -

a) the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of slavery and human trafficking offences;

b) The identification of victims of these offences”

Kevin Hyland OBE was appointed as the UK’s first Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner in 2014, but left the post in July, citing government interference as a significant frustration during his tenure. He repeated these claims when giving evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee in October. The post remains vacant with the Government currently recruiting for the role.

The review panel’s report states that the Commissioner’s independence is central to the credibility and transparency of the post. “He/she must have the freedom to scrutinise and advise on the efforts of Government departments and agencies, the police, the Crown Prosecution Service and others in the area of prevention, prosecution and protection.”

Current structures for the role, including oversight by a line-manager within the Home Office and Home Office approval of the Commissioner’s budget, were highly criticised by the review as clear conflicts of interest. The report questions how the Anti-Slavery Commissioner can be free to scrutinise the department or Government policy, if their appraisals are carried out by the Home Office. The panel especially noted the conflict with the Home Office’s responsibility for managing immigration.

To guarantee independence and respond to the concerns expressed by Kevin Hyland, the report recommends that a sponsoring minister in the Cabinet Office should oversee the post on behalf of the Prime Minister rather than the Home Secretary and that any line-manager should not come from the Home Office.

However, Mr Javid has rejected these proposals. In a letter to the chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee Yvette Cooper MP this week, he states that the Government will not pause its recruitment process for the role, believing it to be ‘vital’ that the role is filled ‘without delay’ and insists that the role be sponsored by the Home Office. He will be providing a formal response to the report’s other recommendations in due course.

CARE gave evidence to the review panel on this issue. Whilst we agree with the Home Secretary about the importance of this role and hope that a new Commissioner will be appointed as soon as possible, we share the panel’s concerns about the lack of independence and are disappointed by Mr Jajivd’s response. We will be monitoring this issue closely.

More about the review

The Modern Slavery Act 2015 was hailed as ground-breaking, and the UK Government has sought to take a leading role in the fight against modern day slavery promoting the Act around the world. Australia has this week enacted similar legislation.

However, there are areas of the Act which could be strengthened and CARE welcomes the Government’s decision to review the legislation.

The members of the panel conducting the review are Frank Field MP, Maria Miller MP and Baroness Butler-Sloss. They were asked to focus on four areas of the Modern Slavery Act and produce a report for the Home Secretary by March 2019. CARE has submitted evidence to the review.

The four areas they are looking at are:

The Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner

Transparency in supply chains

Independent Child Trafficking Advocates

The legal application of the Act (including the definition of exploitation, reparation orders and the statutory defence)

Find out more about the review here.

Find out more about our work on modern slavery here.