I won't go into that debate, but we need to have that discussion elsewhere.

Of course, immigrants will be involved in this vicious trade, but there are very large numbers of other people involved in it. We absolutely do not need to stigmatise any immigrant community as seeing as synonymous the word 'immigrant' with the word 'gangmaster', for example. It's an extremely racist narrative and, actually, all it does is hamper our work to encourage victims to come forward, as does actually stigmatising people who don't come through the proper immigration routes. The idea that we currently have uncontrolled mass migration is, frankly, nonsense. The level of immigration here in Wales is tiny, as I've had previous experience of debating with this particular Member.

Anyway, getting on with the job of combating slavery should be the priority, regardless of the origins of the criminals. Slavery includes child exploitation, sexual exploitation, labour exploitation, criminal exploitation and, indeed, human tissue and organ harvesting. While formal responsibility for preventing these crimes is not devolved, we are committed to tackling slavery and increasingly seem to be leading the way in the UK through work such as that outlined by Joyce Watson, who has worked tirelessly in this regard, as have a number of others.

Slavery is a serious criminal offence under the Modern Slavery Act 2015, and the penalties range up to life imprisonment. Given the nature of this crime, the Home Office is unable to confirm the true number of victims; however, based on 2013 data, the Home Office chief scientific officer in 2014 estimated there were between 10,000 and 13,000 victims being exploited in some form of slavery in the UK. Earlier this year, the National Crime Agency stated that this number had been underestimated and that the real number may be in the hundreds of thousands. Potential victims of slavery were referred into the UK national referral mechanism. In 2016, the National Crime Agency reported that, in the UK, almost 4,000 victims had been referred, almost 3,500 from outside the UK. This included the 123 victims trafficked in Wales, of which 114 were from outside the UK. The National Crime Agency reported that there had been over 2,500 victims referred in the first six months of this year, and this included 109 referrals in Wales. At UK level, the National Crime Agency's Organised Crime Command leads on action against organised crime groups. The Organised Crime Command works with the police and other agencies to agree priorities and to ensure that appropriate action is taken against crime groups and gangs.

So, what are we actually doing in Wales? We are making Wales hostile to slavery. We remain the first and only country in the UK to appoint an anti-slavery co-ordinator. We've established the Wales anti-slavery leadership group to provide strategic leadership and guidance on how we tackle slavery. The leadership group will keep me updated on progress with this agenda, and I also expect to receive regular updates from our anti-slavery co-ordinator. But, we recognise that no single agency can be effective in tackling slavery. This is why we are working with a wide range of partners, including the National Crime Agency, the police, and the UK Border Force. We're also working with UK Visas and Immigration, the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority and with the Crown Prosecution Service. In addition, we are working with BAWSO and Barnardo's Cymru who will provide support to the victims of this crime. 

We are also working with partners to provide support for refugees coming to Wales, which will help reduce the risk of exploitation. We are also continuing to raise awareness of slavery. In 2016, the anti-slavery training that we have developed with partners was delivered to over 5,500 people in Wales across the public, private and third sectors. With our partners, we continue to provide this training, and an estimated 5,000 people have already benefited so far this year.

Slavery is a complex crime to investigate and prosecute; this is why we have worked with our partners to develop joint training provision for senior investigating officers and Crown prosecutors. This training course is a first for Wales and for the UK. In March this year, we launched the ethical employment in supply chains code of practice. This is aimed at making supply chains transparent and preventing exploitation of workers, which includes migrant workers. This is also a first for Wales and the UK.

We are sharing our learning in Wales with other partners, including UK Government departments, and with the UK Independent Anti-slavery Commissioner. In fact, our work in Wales is starting to gain serious international recognition. Until recently, slavery was a hidden crime and we know it is still under-reported. That is why we've introduced new data collection systems in Wales. We continue to work with partners to develop a better evidence base that will more accurately reflect the level of slavery in Wales. Our collective work to raise awareness of slavery is expected to lead to an increase in the number of reported cases. It is through improved reporting that we can help ensure victims receive the support they need and that the perpetrators of this heinous crime can be brought to justice, and not through criminalising the people who are victims themselves. 

We remain committed to tackling slavery, we remain committed to supporting victims, and we remain absolute in our commitment to making Wales hostile to slavery. Empty rhetoric about immigration can only damage that important work, while we in the Welsh Government are actually getting on with the job.