Agenda item

Report of Strategic Director, Care Wellbeing and Learning

Committee received a report giving an overview of modern day slavery legislation and how the Council responds.

It was reported that, although modern slavery is not new, there is a lot more awareness locally, regionally and nationally. There is no typical profile of a slave, however they are likely to be vulnerable.  The Modern Slavery Act 2015 consolidated offences and penalties and created statutory duties.

There are a number of indicators of Modern Day Slavery; forced / bonded labour, sexual exploitation, criminal exploitation and domestic servitude.  It was noted that possible indicators of Modern Day Slavery could include physical appearance, isolation, no personal possessions, unusual travel times and restricted freedom of movement.

In terms of the Modern Slavery Act a number of duties were given to local authorities, to respond when they judge someone to be a victim of modern slavery. It was noted that the key areas local authorities can respond are around; victim identification and support, prevention and disruption of crime, working in partnership and awareness raising. It was acknowledged that this is very much a multi-agency approach. The Strategic Exploitation Group is a sub-group of the Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB), Chaired by a Chief Inspector from Northumbria Police, this group approached the operational response to modern slavery and developed an overarching strategy. This group also has oversight of the children’s MSET (Missing, Sexually Exploited and Trafficked), to date there have been no child trafficked cases.  It was reported that the Strategic Exploitation Group commissioned Hope for Justice to undertake training for front line practitioners in Gateshead, it was noted that it will be re-commissioned for further training.

Committee was advised that the operational response to modern slavery in Gateshead is co-ordinated by the Resilience and Emergency Planning Team. A Concept of Operations has been developed which provides an overview of how the authority will respond to issues in the area and also supports the multi-agency approach to supporting those people who have been subject to modern slavery, trafficking and exploitation. This includes; responding to acute incidents within normal service, co-ordination of pre-planned operations and escalation to an emergency or major incident situation.  It was reported that the Concept of Operations document details the single point of contact, the key contacts and communication process and the escalation processes.

It was reported that the Concept of Operations has been in place since October 2016, since that time there has been six planned operations in the area, out of which Gateshead was involved in three; Operation Border, Operation Bridler and last week (Monday 15 January 2018) Operation Caritas.  Committee was provided with information regarding Operation Bridler which took place in June 2017, led by the National Crime Agency (NCA). Four properties in Gateshead were searched, with five victims attending Victim Centres in the area, all victims were female who declined support, there were no children involved. Operation Caritas involved dawn raids on properties in the Inner West area of Gateshead, six arrests were made and there were 12 potential victims who were safeguarded.

It was acknowledged that often the victims of modern slavery do not realise they are victims because their wages are better than at home, however they are often housed in sub-standard accommodation.

Over the course of the six planned operations, 48 adults in total were spoken to, 14 of these were from Gateshead  with an overall total of only 5 in Newcastle who identified themselves as victims.

It was reported that work continues with Social Care services to pre-identify children and young people who may be implicated in order for arrangements to be made for those young people.

It was questioned whether perpetrators are still prosecuted if the victims return. It was confirmed that they are still prosecuted and the situation continues to be monitored through police liaison officers.

It was suggested that there should be more emphasis on links with housing as these perpetrators are likely to be renting properties for the victims to be housed. It was confirmed that work is ongoing with the private sector housing team within the Council as it has been found that most of the properties targeted are privately rented. Committee was advised that during operations a number of staff, including those from partner agencies and The Gateshead Housing Company, are on standby to check addresses and to ensure a real picture of the circumstances is gathered across all services. This also allows follow up work to be carried out on any information gathered. It was also noted that the operations are disruption strategies and the Council will continue to look at all disruption options available. During the recent Operation Caritas officers were prepared for the worst, planning for a potential of seven children coming into the Looked After Care system, however this didn’t evolve on this occasion.

It was questioned whether houses are declared safe before Council officers enter the buildings. It was confirmed that there is weeks of preparation before Council staff go in, there is also a command and control structure in place with the police.

The Committee gave thanks to all officers involved in the operations.

RESOLVED    -           (i)         That the Committee’s comments be noted.

                                    (ii)        That Committee was satisfied with the progress

achieved.