§ Lord Beaumont of Whitleyasked Her Majesty's Government:
What sum of money has been recovered for each of the last five years by way of confiscation from 70WA those prosecuted for involvement in trafficking in women. [HL4555]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord Filkin)At present there is no specific offence of trafficking in human beings and so no data exist about the confiscation of assets of those engaged in this practice. The Government are committed to introducing a specific offence of trafficking in prostitution in the current Nationality Immigration and Asylum Bill. Confiscation figures in England and Wales for all offences other than drug trafficking, as set out below, illustrate the current use of confiscation powers.
Confiscation orders made under the Criminal Justice Act 1988.
1997–98
- Number of orders made 170,
- Value of orders made £17.2 million,
- Amounts remitted to Secretary of State £3.5 million.
1998–99
- Number of orders made 175,
- Value of orders made £12.7 million,
- Amounts remitted to Secretary of State £6 million.
1999–2000
- Number of orders made 215,
- Value of orders made £28.6 million,
- Amounts remitted £ 15.7 million,
2000–01
- Number of orders made 191,
- Value of orders made £20.7 million,
- Amounts remitted £8.1 million.
The Government have initiated a programme of work to strengthen the effectiveness of the criminal justice system in depriving criminals of their benefit from crime with a view to doubling the amounts recovered from drug traffickers and other serious criminals. The components of the programme are new powers under the Proceeds of Crime Bill, currently going through Parliament, the planned creation under the Bill of an assets recovery agency, the asset recovery strategy which the Government agreed with law enforcement, prosecution and other agencies last autumn; and a grant scheme to help police forces appoint additional financial investigators. The Government have also established the Recovered Assets Fund under which up to half of receipts from recovered criminal assets are available to be recycled into projects under five headings, including the asset recovery strategy.
§ Lord Beaumont of Whitleyasked Her Majesty's Government:
71WAWhat sums of money have been set aside to help victims of trafficking or sexual exploitation. [HL4557]
§ Lord FilkinAs we set out in the White Paper,Secure Boarders, Safe Haven: Integration with Diversity in Modern Britain, the Home Office is considering what kind of support and advice can be provided to the victims of trafficking and also how we might improve the way in which victims are identified and dealt with by the police and Immigration Service.
The Government are working with the voluntary sector on the provision of services to victims of trafficking for sexual and labour exploitation and to identify the cost implications of such services. The Department for International Development and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office are running a number of prevention projects aimed primarily at raising awareness and educating potential victims (mostly women and children) in the dangers of being trafficked: £3 millon has been given for the International Labour Organisation's International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) programme in the Greater Mekong region (parts of Cambodia, China, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam). This involves a number of interlinked interventions to raise awareness and prevent trafficking and to withdraw women and children from exploitation and reintegrate them back into their own or new communities.