Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many cases of (a) trafficking in human beings and (b) forced labour were recorded by Humberside Police in each year from 2010 to 2015; in how many such cases prosecutions were brought; and what the outcomes were of those prosecutions.

Karen Bradley

Recorded crime figures for the period 2010 to 2014 do not directly correlate to the two categories in the question. Data on human trafficking for sexual exploitation shows that one case of this type was recorded by Humberside in 2012/13. Crime recording rules stipulate that only the most serious offence in a sequence of crimes is recorded, so it is possible that other cases of trafficking for sexual exploitation offences have been recorded under other offences that could result in a more severe sentence. The Modern Slavery Act 2015 increased the maximum sentence available for modern slavery offences to life imprisonment. Modern Slavery was introduced as a separate crime classification in April 2015. This classification includes trafficking for all forms of exploitation and slavery, servitude and forced or compulsory labour. Between April and December 2015, eight modern slavery crimes were recorded by Humberside.

The number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates’ courts and found guilty at all courts for offences related to human trafficking and forced labour in the Humberside Police Force Area, from 2010 to 2015 was four. This is recorded on the basis the location of the magistrates’ court where proceedings started, and hence it may be that an offence recorded in Humberside was then proceeded against in another police force area.