Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Act 2015 section 38: consultation analysis

Overview of Responses

Bodies to be named in Regulations

The Scottish Government is of the view, subject to this consultation exercise, that the Scottish public authorities listed below should notify Police Scotland about a person who is, or appears to be, a victim of an offence of human trafficking (section 1 of the Act) or of slavery, servitude and forced or compulsory labour (section 4 of the Act).

All 32 Scottish Local Authorities
All 14 Scottish Geographical NHS Boards
NHS 24
Scottish Ambulance Service
Scottish Fire and Rescue Service
Scottish Ministers for the purposes of including Marine Scotland
Scottish Ministers for the purposes of including Scottish Prison Service
Scottish Environment Protection Agency

Question 1 asked respondents if they agreed that the above authorities should be named in Regulations under section 38(1) of the Act.

• The vast majority of responses expressed support for naming all the listed organisations in Regulations. At least 92.5% of respondents agreed that they should be named.

The Scottish Government recognises that there are other access points to NHS services that potential victims of trafficking may use such as Dental Practice, Community Pharmacist and General Practice.  The Scottish Government is of the view, subject to this consultation exercise, that voluntary notifications should be encouraged by these groups of professionals and their staff.

Question 2 asked respondents if they agreed that this group of professionals should be encouraged to submit voluntary notifications.

• The vast majority of responses expressed support for General Practice staff, Community Pharmacists and Dental Practice staff being encouraged to comply with the duty voluntarily.  At least 96% of respondents agreed that they should be encouraged to submit voluntary notifications.

Question 3 asked respondents if there was any other Scottish public authorities that should be subject to the duty to notify.

• Around two thirds of respondents believed there are other bodies who should be named in Regulations.

Although the majority of responses expressed support with Scottish Government proposals in questions 1 to 3 some respondents used the opportunity to provide additional comments in support of their response.  This was true of both responses in support of, and against, the proposals.

Key themes emerging from questions 1 to 3

• A risk that victims may not seek access to health care support and treatment if they know their details may be passed to the Police (but some victims and survivors disagreed);
• A risk of duplication of referrals due to the potential number of interactions a victim may have with named bodies;
• A risk that anonymity may be compromised outwith larger towns and cities;
• A need for clear links with other processes such as the NRM, child, and adult protection;
• A need for clear definitions of trafficking and exploitation types; and
• Other suggested bodies included those in Education, Health and Care Professionals, Justice, NGO and Third Sector, UK bodies and others

Process for compliance

In terms of the content of the Regulations it will be the Scottish public authority that is named and subject to the legal duty and not an individual person or role within that public authority.  The Scottish Government recognises that a one size fits all approach will not be feasible in terms of implementation of the duty and is of the view, subject to this consultation exercise, that it will be for each public authority to determine how this duty will work in practice.

Question 4 asked respondents if they agreed that the bodies named in Regulations should establish their own processes for complying with the duty.

• Around two thirds of respondents believed that bodies named in Regulations should establish their own processes for complying with the legal duty.

Key themes emerging from question 4

• A risk of duplication of referrals due to the potential number of interactions a victim may have with named bodies;
• A need for clear guidance and training for those subject to the legal duty; and
• A need for clear definitions of trafficking and exploitation types

Information to be contained in a notification

A notification from a Scottish public authority to Police Scotland must not include information that identifies an adult, or enables an adult to be identified (either by itself or in combination with other information) unless the adult consents to the inclusion of that information.  The Scottish Government is of the view, subject to this consultation exercise, that the anonymised information below should be included in a notification.

Gender
Nationality
Country of Origin
Location victim was recovered
Location reported exploitation took place
Has a referral been made to the Police
Reported to be a victim of a section 1 offence

If a victim of human trafficking did the trafficking involve:

• Labour exploitation
• Sexual exploitation
• Domestic servitude
• Commission of an offence
• Removal of organs or tissue
• Unknown
• Other

Reported to be a victim of a section 4 offence

Question 5 asked respondents if they agreed that the above anonymised information should be included in a notification.

• The majority of responses expressed support for including the information listed above in a notification from a specified Scottish public authority to Police Scotland.  At least 89% of respondents agreed that the information listed should be contained in a notification.
• Three quarters or more of responses from victims and survivors agreed that some of the information above should be passed onto the Police.

Once the consultation closed it became clear that there was an error with this question on the online platform.  There was no option to answer yes or no for reported to be a victim of a section 4 offence.

The Scottish Government is of the view, subject to this consultation exercise, that the additional information listed below should be included in a notification (if available) if an adult consents to the inclusion of identifiable information.

Consent for additional information
Is the victim willing to be contacted by the Police
First name
Family name
Alias name(s)
Date of birth
Alias date(s) of birth
Is the victim a parent or carer
Other victims whereabouts
Safe phone number
Safe address
Safe post code
Does the victim have any additional needs
Details of persons responsible/perpetrators

Question 6 asked respondents if they agreed that the above information should be included if an adult consents

• The vast majority of responses expressed support for including the additional information listed above in a notification if an adult consents to the inclusion of that additional identifiable information.  At least 91% of respondents agreed that the additional information listed should be included in a notification.

Question 7 asked respondents if they believed there was any further information that should be included in a notification

• Just under half of responses believed that there was other information that should be included in a notification from a specified Scottish public authority to Police Scotland.
• The majority of responses from victims and survivors said there was further information that should be included in a notification.

Key themes emerging from questions 5 to 7:

• There needs to be clear definitions of trafficking and exploitation types;
• A risk that anonymity may be compromised outwith larger towns and cities;
• The level of detail required when completing a referral; and
• Other suggested information to be included in a notification was details of perpetrators, children and dependents of the victim, medical history and equalities issues

Bodies that should receive information from Police Scotland

After receiving a notification Police Scotland must notify a third party about the person who is, or appears to be, a victim of an offence of human trafficking or of slavery, servitude and forced or compulsory labour.

The Scottish Government is of the view, subject to this consultation exercise, that Police Scotland should pass the information it receives to the bodies listed below.

All 14 Scottish Geographical NHS Boards
All 32 Scottish Local Authorities
British Transport Police
Europol
Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority
Home Office
Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner
Interpol
Marine Scotland
Migrant Help
National Crime Agency
NHS 24
Scottish Ambulance Service
Scottish Environment Protection Agency
Scottish Fire and Rescue Service
Scottish Government
Scottish Prison Service
Trafficking Awareness Raising Alliance

Question 8 asked respondents if they agreed that the bodies listed above should receive a report from Police Scotland about a person who is, or appears to be, a victim of human trafficking or of slavery, servitude or forced or compulsory labour.

• The majority of responses expressed support for Police Scotland sharing information with the bodies listed.  At least 89% of respondents agreed that Police Scotland should share information with the bodies listed.

Once the consultation closed it became clear that there was an error with this question on the online platform.  There was no option to answer yes or no for Marine Scotland or the Home Office.

Question 9 asked respondents if there were any other bodies that they thought Police Scotland should notify about victims of a section 1 or section 4 offence.

• Just under half of respondents believed that there were other bodies which Police Scotland should notify about victims of a section 1 or section 4 offence.
• Nearly three quarters of victim and survivor respondents believed there were people that the Police should tell about them^[5]

Key themes emerging from questions 8 and 9:

• Information coming out from Police Scotland should be both relevant and proportionate;
• A risk that anonymity may be compromised outwith larger towns and cities; and
• Other categories of bodies that were suggested to receive this information included the Business and Private Sector, Health and Care Professionals, Justice, Local Authorities, NGO and Third Sector, UK Bodies and others.  Victims and survivors suggested community groups, housing associations, the public and people like TARA.

Information to be contained in a notification from Police Scotland

The Scottish Government is of the view, subject to this consultation exercise, that the anonymised information listed below should be contained in a notification from Police Scotland to others if an adult does not consent to providing information that may identify them.

Country of Origin
Gender
Has a referral been made to the Police
Location reported exploitation took place
Location victim was recovered
Nationality
Reported to be a victim of a section 1 offence

If a victim of human trafficking did the trafficking involve

• Labour exploitation
• Sexual exploitation
• Domestic servitude
• Commission of an offence
• Removal of organs or tissue
• Unknown
• Other

Reported to be a victim of a section 4 offence

Question 10 asked respondents if they agreed that the anonymised information listed above should be included in a notification from Police Scotland to a third party

• The majority of responses expressed support that the anonymised information listed above should be included in a notification from Police Scotland to a third party.  At least 79% of respondents agreed.

Question 11 asked respondents if there was any other information that they thought should be included in a notification from Police Scotland to a third party

• Around a quarter of responses believed that there is other information that should be included in a notification.

Question 12 asked respondents how frequently Police Scotland should pass information to a third party

• There was not a clear preference for how frequently information should be shared by Police Scotland.  Responses in favour of quarterly reports either by calendar year or financial, monthly and other were quite evenly split.

Key themes emerging from questions 10 to 12

• A risk that anonymity may be compromised outwith larger towns and cities;
• Other suggested information to be included was details of perpetrators, children and dependents of the victim, port of entry to Scotland and age;
• Information coming out from Police Scotland should be both relevant and proportionate; and
• Information coming out from Police Scotland should be at a similar time to the release of NRM information or quarterly strategy meetings

Other bodies that the Scottish Government should work with

The Scottish Government is of the view, subject to this consultation exercise, that it would like to work with the bodies listed below, who cannot be named in Regulations, because they do not fall within the definition of ‘Scottish public authority’, and encourage them to voluntarily notify the Police about a person who is, or appears to be, a victim of human trafficking or of slavery, servitude and forced or compulsory labour.

Border Force
British Transport Police
Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority
Migrant Help
TARA^[6]

Question 13 asked respondents if they agreed that the bodies listed above should work with the Scottish Government to establish a system whereby information can be shared with Police Scotland in a similar way to the legal duty

• The vast majority of responses agreed that the bodies listed above should work with the Scottish Government to establish a system whereby information can be shared with Police Scotland in a similar way to the legal duty.  At least 91% of respondents agreed.

Question 14 asked respondents if there were any other bodies that operate in Scotland that the Scottish Government should work with to notify Police Scotland

• Just under three quarters of responses believed that there are other bodies who operate in Scotland that the Scottish Government should encourage to notify Police Scotland about a person who is, or appears to be, a victim of a section 1 or section 4 offence.

Key themes emerging from questions 13 and 14:

• A risk that victims may not seek support if they know that their details may be passed to Police;
• The role of NGO’s in the identification process; and
• Other categories of bodies that were suggested to work with the Scottish Government included the Business and Private Sector, Education, Health and Care Professionals, Housing, Justice, Local Authorities, NGO and Third Sector, Religious Groups and others