1. What assessment has the Welsh Government made of the impact of anti-slavery legislation that affects Wales? OQ57402

The Modern Slavery Act 2015 has improved the focus on identifying and tackling the risk of modern slavery, supporting survivors and bringing perpetrators to justice. We are working with the Home Office and partners in Wales to review the modern slavery strategy and better understand the impact of the Act.

Thank you, Deputy Minister, and, as you know, the Modern Slavery Act UK specifies that companies with a turnover of £36 million or more need to declare the measures that they're taking to stop slavery in their supply chains. More recent developments by the UK Government in 2020 have, in what was a world first, extended this requirement to all public bodies and local authorities in England and Wales that also have budgets of over £36 million. 

As the Deputy Minister will know, Wales has comparatively few private companies that actually meet the £36 million threshold, and, as one of the lead Ministers for anti-slavery in Wales, I believe it's your responsibility to make the case to the UK Government for this threshold to be changed to incorporate more Welsh businesses. In the first instance, can the Deputy Minister explain what specific attempts this Government has made to have this £36 million threshold changed to be more applicable to Welsh businesses? And, secondly, can the Deputy Minister explain what contribution she and the Minister have made personally, as leads on anti-slavery, to justify this role within their ministerial portfolios? Thank you.

Can I thank the Member for his question and his interest in this issue? I'm sure Members across the Senedd floor can agree this is something that there should be consensus and cross-party work on given the very nature of the subject matter and the challenges that we face. And whilst modern slavery is a reserved matter under the Government of Wales Act 2006, we have, through the course of this Act coming into place, worked both with the UK Government very closely and with partners in Wales. We are part of the Wales anti-slavery leadership group and we also work closely—. We were part of the review of the strategy that it's currently undertaking. I will certainly take away some of the points that the Member raised today in terms of that review and the ongoing conversations we are having with UK Government counterparts.

And I should perhaps at this point just refer to some of the things that we have already done in Wales, and that's our code of practice on ethical employment in supply chains and with our work around modern slavery and fair work and social partnership, we're also looking at a review and a refresh of that strategy to see how we can strengthen it further in the future.

We should recognise, of course, that Wales has led the way in the UK on tackling modern slavery. We were the first country in the UK to appoint an anti-trafficking lead when Carl Sargeant was Minister, and that role has been supported by groups like Bawso and the Welsh Refugee Council, which bring a victim-focused expertise. And now we also have Jeff Cuthbert spearheading the police and crime commissioner response. So, Wales has a good story to tell. As you've mentioned, Minister, we have the code of practice on ethical employment in supply chains, and that is also key. But we are also subject to UK legislation. I have serious concerns about the UK's Nationality and Borders Bill, which leading charities have condemned as overtly racist and which surely threatens our status as a nation of sanctuary with its punitive time limits for trafficking victims and others to bring forward their cases. So, is the Welsh Government assessing the Bill to see how Wales might close the victim support gaps that it will inevitably open?

The Minister to respond.

The Deputy Minister to respond. Yes, carry on, Hannah Blythyn.

Diolch, Llywydd. Can I thank the Member again for her work in this area—the work of the cross-party Senedd group on human trafficking? I know Welsh Government officials have recently met with the group to see how we can work collaboratively again across the Senedd, and across Government, and with partners across Wales. And the Member, Joyce Watson, rightly refers to the work of the PCC Jeff Cuthbert now, as the designated lead in this area and how we actually work together. And the Member highlights concerns around the Nationality and Borders Bill, and you know that both my colleagues the Minister for Social Justice and the Counsel General issued a written statement in December, shortly before the recess, making clear the Welsh Government's very strong concerns in this area, and the way in which it might undermine some of the work we are doing around the nation of sanctuary, not to mention around modern slavery. We are concerned that the Bill conflates modern slavery with immigration issues and risks creating additional barriers to the identification and provision of support to modern slavery victims. We are calling very strongly on the UK Government to change course on this, and we'll continue to do what we can do within Wales, implementing the code of practice and working with those bodies that aren't devolved as well, and with our police and crime commissioner colleagues and with local authorities, to make sure that we do tackle these pernicious practices in Wales.