HC Deb 30 October 2002 vol 391 cc845-6W
Mr. Webb

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the number of victims of people trafficking who have been removed from this country and then been subsequently trafficked back to the UK or to other EU destinations in the last five years. [77382]

Beverley Hughes

As people trafficking is not yet a criminal offence, there are no figures currently collected on the number of cases of trafficking. The Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Bill currently before Parliament creates a new offence of trafficking for the purpose of prostitution, which carries a maximum sentence of 14 years. This will enable us to tackle the worst forms of exploitation pending the introduction of more comprehensive legislation when parliamentary time permits.

The only available estimates of the levels of trafficking are based on a Home Office research study "Stopping Traffic" (Police Research Series 125, published in 2000), which indicated that there was intelligence to suggest that some women and children are trafficked into the UK for the purposes of sexual exploitation. This was estimated at between 140 and 1,400 per year, but it was impossible to make a more accurate assessment of numbers. The report concluded that there was no evidence to suggest that this was on a large scale compared with other European countries. The report did not attempt to estimate the number of people who were trafficked a second time, having previously been removed.

Mr. Prisk

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate his Department has made of the number of women illegally trafficked to Britain against their will for use in vice rings in the last 12 months. [77554]

Mr. Bob Ainsworth

As people trafficking is not yet a criminal offence, there are no figures currently collected on the number of cases of trafficking. The only available estimates of the levels of trafficking are based on a Home Office research study "Stopping Traffic" (Police Research Series 125, published in 2000), which indicated that there was intelligence to suggest that some women and children are trafficked into the UK for the purposes of sexual exploitation. This was estimated at between 140 and 1,400 per year but it was impossible to make a more accurate assessment of numbers.