Have your say on the draft Modern Slavery Bill

• Submit written evidence
• Written evidence guidance

The Committee, comprised of Members of the House of Commons and House of Lords, has been formed to scrutinise the Government’s draft Modern Slavery Bill and make recommendations for its improvement.

The draft Bill proposes to consolidate and simplify existing criminal offences relating to slavery and human trafficking and introduce civil orders to restrict the activity of those involved in or convicted of slavery and trafficking offences.  The draft Bill also proposes the appointment of an Anti-Slavery Commissioner to encourage good practice in the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of offences. The draft Bill was published on 16 December 2013 alongside a white paper detailing the Government’s non-legislative approach to modern slavery.

The Committee invites written evidence from all interested parties on the content and form of the draft Bill, its likely effectiveness and the contribution it would, if enacted, make to tackling modern slavery. Detailed proposals for alternative wording are welcome.

The Committee wishes to hear your views on the draft Bill and any of the issues it raises. Evidence addressing the following questions is particularly welcome:

• Would the draft Bill be effective in reducing the incidence of and preventing modern slavery?
• Are there other provisions which should be included in the draft Bill?
• What non-legislative action needs to be taken to ensure effective implementation of the draft Bill?
• Does the draft Bill achieve its objectives effectively and fairly?
• Does the draft Bill provide for adequate safeguarding of survivors of slavery and trafficking?
• How could the proposals for the Anti-Slavery Commissioner be improved?   

The deadline for the submission for written evidence is Monday 10 February

Notes on submission of written evidence

The deadline is Monday 10 February. As a guideline submissions should state clearly who the submission is from e.g. ‘Written evidence submitted by xxxx’ and be no longer than 3000 words, please contact the Committee staff if you wish to discuss this. If you need to send hard copy please send it to: The Clerk, Joint Committee on the Draft Modern Slavery Bill, Scrutiny Unit, House of Commons, 7 Millbank, SW1P 3JA.

Submissions must be a self-contained memorandum in Word or Rich Text Format (not PDFs). Paragraphs should be numbered for ease of reference and the document should, if possible, include an executive summary.

Submissions should be original work, not previously published or circulated elsewhere. Once submitted, your submission becomes the property of the Committee and no public use should be made of it unless you have first obtained permission from the Clerk of the Committee. Please bear in mind that Committees are not able to investigate individual cases.

The Committee normally, though not always, chooses to publish the written evidence it receives, either by printing the evidence, publishing it on the internet or by making it publicly available through the Parliamentary Archives. If there is any information you believe to be sensitive you should highlight it and explain what harm you believe would result from its disclosure; the Committee will take this into account in deciding whether to publish or further disclose the evidence.

The personal information you supply will be processed in accordance with the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998 for the purposes of attributing the evidence you submit and contacting you as necessary in connection with its processing. The Clerk of the House of Commons is the data controller for the purposes of the Act.