PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Slavery: Fisheries (15 July 2014)

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to tackle the use of slaves on (a) commercial vessels fishing within the UK Exclusive Economic Zone and (b) EU vessels fishing commercially on the high seas.

Asked by:
Kerry McCarthy (Labour)

The National Crime Agency has identified a gap in existing legislation which means law enforcement agencies are not always able to act where it is suspected that modern slavery offences are being committed at sea. If law enforcement officers have to wait for vessels to return to UK territorial waters or to a UK port before they can take action to tackle suspected modern slavery, this can expose victims to extended periods of abuse and risk to life. This is an unacceptable situation which this Government is determined to put right.

Clause 13 of the Modern Slavery Bill would empower law enforcement officers to exercise specified powers when investigating modern slavery offences being committed at sea. For UK vessels these powers will be available anywhere at sea, and for stateless and EU vessels they will be available within the UK’s territorial waters.

Answered by:
Dame Karen Bradley (Conservative)
21 July 2014