Tackling Modern-day Slavery

Part of 3. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:16 pm on 12 November 2019.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 2:16, 12 November 2019

I thank Dawn Bowden for that important question. Llywydd, because we have the only UK anti-slavery co-ordinator here in Wales, we have been able to use that post to ensure that we have joint and consistent training across Wales on this matter. I want to give the Member an assurance that all cases of modern slavery are reviewed by an all-Wales anti slavery casework group, which goes through them to make sure that we learn the lessons from them. And it is a sobering thought, Llywydd, isn't it, that, in 2018, there were 251 cases of modern slavery reported here in Wales. As the Member suggested, this isn't something that happens somewhere else, it isn't something that somebody else sees but you never do. That's why training our inspectors, training people who come across circumstances where this might be the case, is so important to us.

And we as Assembly Members have opportunities here as well. Llywydd, I myself had cause to report an example, following a street surgery that I carried out in my own constituency over the summer, where local residents were alarmed at what they saw going on in a building at the far end of their own street. And, on investigation, it turned out there was something that badly needed to be looked into there. So, we all have responsibilities, just as others who are the eyes and ears of public services in Wales. 

That 251 figure, Llywydd, while it's shocking in its way, is regarded in the sector as a success, because it means that more people are willing to come forward and identify instances of this sort. We began this journey in 2012, led very much by my colleague Joyce Watson and everything that she's done in this field. There were 34 cases reported in that year. Six years later, it was up to over 250. And that, I think, does show us that there is a greater awareness, a greater alertness, and therefore a greater ability to do what Dawn Bowden suggested, which is to gather the evidence and learn the lessons.