The Independent Review established by the Government on the
workings of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 has requested that the
Government pull the appointment for a new Independent Anti-Slavery
Commissioner until it is able to consider the review’s
recommendations to strengthen the role. The review now expects the
Government to agree the proposals for greater independence in the
contract that is offered to the new Commissioner whose appointment
is expected imminently.
The review of the Act was announced in July 2018 at the request
of the Prime Minister in an attempt to strengthen the existing
legislation. The current process of appointing a new
Commissioner, which began before the summer, is due to finish in
early 2019.
Authored by Review chair MP and reviewers MP and , the interim
report, published today, argues that the Government is not
currently respecting the Commissioner’s statutory independence.
The report calls for a transformation of the role of the
Commissioner, giving the appointee genuine independence. As part
of this, the report states that the preferred candidate for the
role of Commissioner should be subject to a Pre-Appointment
Hearing with a Parliamentary Select Committee rather than being
appointed directly by the Home Office.
The report also recommends:
- That
the Commissioner’s primary roles should be to advise the
Government on measures to tackle modern slavery; to scrutinise
and hold the Government and it agencies to account on their
performance; and raise awareness and promote cooperation between
sectors and interest groups.
- That
a sponsoring Secretary of State other than the Home Secretary is
essential to underline the statutory independence of the
Commissioner.
- That
the Commissioner’s budget should be set out in a memorandum of
understanding and must be adhered to by the Government.
- That
all reports from the office of the IASC should be made public and
the Government should be required to give a public response.
Chair of the Review, , said: “This is a
major publication marking the first part of our extensive review
of the Modern Slavery Act 2015. Although the Act has been used to
bring some successful prosecutions, we are not yet at the point
we need to be to maintain our status as world leaders in this
area. The spirit of the Act was that the Commissioner was the key
single person in charge of its success. The post must attract
people who are figures in their own right and for whom acting
independently is a way of life.”
said: “Since 2015 the UK’s status as the
pre-eminent leader in efforts to eradicate modern slavery has
been called into question. The Act was an innovative piece of
legislation at the time but national parliaments around the world
are now surpassing our own efforts. Ensuring the independence of
the Commissioner is absolutely essential to maintaining our
status in this area and prosecuting successfully.”
