§ Baroness Ludfordasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many convictions have been secured in the United Kingdom in each of the last three years for the offence of trafficking in human beings. [HL1248]
§ The Minister of State, Home Office (Baroness Scotland of Asthal)The Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act received Royal Assent in November 2002, and Sections 145 and 146, which cover trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation, came into force on 10 February 2003. Data on numbers of prosecutions under these sections will be collected and published in due course. Given that the powers came into effect recently there is not any information yet held centrally about numbers of prosecutions. Statistics of court proceedings for 2003 will be published in the autumn of 2004. The maximum sentence for this offence will be 14 years.
More wide-ranging offences covering trafficking into, within and out of the UK for the purposes of sexual exploitation are included in the Sexual Offences Act 2003. We anticipate these offences coming into force in May 2004. In addition to this, an offence of trafficking for the purposes of exploitation, including trafficking for the purposes of forced labour and the removal of organs, has been included in the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, etc.) Bill, which is currently before Parliament. The maximum sentence for all these offences will be 14 years.