North Wales Assembly Member Mark Isherwood has called for an urgent Statement from the Welsh Government on the Modern Slavery Helpline used in Wales, which aims to increase levels of both reporting and victims being rescued, but is under threat of closure because of a lack of funding.
Speaking in yesterday’s Business Statement, Mr Isherwood who has previously stated that Modern Slavery is “alive in business, agriculture, hospitality, crime and sexual exploitation across North Wales, and Wales's rural communities, towns and every single county’, said “serious concerns” have been raised with him regarding the future of the Helpline which was set up to help tackle the problem.
He said:
“I call for a Statement on the Modern Slavery Helpline. On 7 May, Jane Hutt, Deputy Minister and Chief Whip, made a Statement on the Modern Slavery Helpline, hosted by ‘Unseen’. As she said, ‘Unseen work with a range of partners including the UK and devolved Governments...working to build a better understanding of how modern slavery is affecting our communities and our people so that effective and timely action can be taken to address the problem’. And she said: 'Our Wales Anti-Slavery Leadership Group works closely with Unseen to help promote the Helpline, which aims to increase levels of reporting and subsequently leads to more victims being identified, rescued, and where possible to the prosecution of offenders'.
“However, serious concerns have been raised with me about the organisation ‘Unseen’ and the Helpline, where, despite having received £2 million in two years, it seems that, without urgent funding, the Helpline is now under threat of being closed. In fact, their website says: ‘SAVE THE UK MODERN SLAVERY HELPLINE - Without urgent funding it will close on 30th November'.
“Also, yesterday, in the North Wales Chronicle, we read that the Human Trafficking Foundation has welcomed an increase in the identification of potential victims, including 70 potential victims recorded by North Wales Police in the 12 months to June—that's significantly up on the previous 12 months.
“But they have cautioned that the proportion of people entering the National Referral Mechanism who are then recognised as having been trafficked has remained stagnant, that only about 7 per cent of cases investigated go to the Crown Prosecution Service, and only about 1 per cent receive compensation, and, she (Tamara Barnett, head of the Human Trafficking Foundation) says, ‘perhaps most shockingly of all, the Government’, and presumably both Governments in the context of the Minister's previous Statement, have ‘no idea what happens to these thousands of victims when they exit the National Referral Mechanism. This is a terrifying oversight’. Again, I call for an urgent Statement in that context, where the Helpline the Welsh Government is contributing to and dependent upon might be about to close.”
Responding, the Finance Minister and Trefnydd, Rebecca Evans AM, said: “The Deputy Minister and Chief Whip has heard what you said regarding your concerns relating to the Modern Slavery Helpline, and she will certainly follow up what you've said.”
