15. How will the policies contained in the Welsh Government’s ‘Taking Wales Forward’ programme fight modern slavery in Wales? OAQ(5)0038(CC)

As set out in our programme for government, we are committed to working with our police and crime commissioners and other partners on a range of issues. In this context, we will continue to tackle slavery in Wales, raising awareness, supporting victims and helping to bring perpetrators to justice.

Thank you very much for that answer, Minister. The fact is that there are more than 13,000 slaves in this country, and I don’t know how many in Wales. Are you actually engaged with the police? There is a general perception that they haven’t got the resources to tackle slavery, which also contains all sorts of slavery—there are sex slaves, cheap labour and God knows how many different social problems involved with it. Are there enough resources in your department for the police to tackle this slavery in Wales, and to eradicate it forever?

Of course, I share the Member’s concern around this. The Member will be aware that the issue around policing is a non-devolved issue, but we are the only part of the country with an anti-slavery co-ordinator, which we introduced here in Wales. He works extremely hard and there’s a conference coming up in the next week or two bringing partners together to tackle these issues. I do raise this with the police in regard to the great work that they do there, but this is a hidden crime and we urge people in all communities, if they’re aware of this hidden slavery, to report it to the police.

I thank the Cabinet Secretary.