Modern slavery act 2015 - wikipedia Modern slavery act 2015 Modern Slavery Act 2015 Parliament of the United Kingdom Long title An Act to make provision about slavery, servitude and forced or compulsory labour and about human trafficking, including provision for the protection of victims ; to make provision for an Independent Anti-slavery Commissioner ; and for connected purposes. Citation 30 Dates Royal assent 26 March 2015 History of passage through Parliament Text of statute as originally enacted Text of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 as in force today ( including any amendments ) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk The Modern Slavery Act 2015 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It is designed to tackle slavery in the UK and consolidates previous offences relating to trafficking and slavery. The act extends to England and Wales. The bill was introduced to the House of Commons in draft form in October 2013 by James Brokenshire, Parliamentary Under Secretary for Crime and Security. The bill 's sponsors in the Home Office were Theresa May and Lord Bates. It received Royal Assent and became law on 26 March 2015. James Brokenshire was quoted as saying that the act would `` send the strongest possible message to criminals that if you are involved in this disgusting trade in human beings, you will be arrested, you will be prosecuted and you will be locked up. '' Contents 1 Provisions 2 Amendments to the bill 2.1 Supply chain 2.2 Prostitution 2.3 Tied visas 3 Criticism of the bill 4 Implementation of the act 5 See also 6 External links 7 References Provisions The act contains a number of provisions : The consolidation of the existing slavery and trafficking offences The introduction of two new civil orders to enable the courts to place restrictions on those convicted of modern slavery offences, or those involved in such offences but not yet convicted The establishment of an independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner to encourage good practice on the prevention of modern slavery offences and the identification of victims. The first commissioner was Kevin Hyland The provision of mechanisms for seizing traffickers ' assets and channelling some of that money towards victims for compensation payments The creation of a new statutory defence for slavery or trafficking victims compelled to commit criminal offences The provision of child trafficking advocates Amendments to the bill Supply chain The draft bill included no measures to counter the use of slave labour abroad as the Home Office believed that asking businesses to audit and report on modern slavery in their supply chains would be an `` additional burden ''. However, campaigning resulted in a supply chain clause being added to the bills so that `` big business will be forced to make public its efforts to stop the use of slave labour by its suppliers ''. Consultation regarding the reporting requirements of the supply chain clause took place in February and March 2015. From 29 October 2015 the Transparency in Supply Chain Provisions require businesses to publish an annual statement if they have an annual turnover above a threshold ( £ 36 million ). The statement must confirm the steps taken to ensure that slavery and human trafficking are not taking place in the business ( or in any supply chain ) or declare that no steps to confirm the existence of slavery or trafficking have been taken. It is expected that few businesses would take the latter option as it may place their ethical position into question and affect their reputation. There are, however, no legally binding requirements to conduct due diligence on supply chains and there are no criminal or financial penalties for non-compliance. On 21 March 2016 the Home Office held a Transparency in Supply Chains ( TISC ) event where an independent civil society modern slavery register, the TISC Report, was announced in order to provide a publicly searchable, accessible registry for companies to share their statements. At the point of launch, on the 1st April 2016, it was partnered with, amongst others, the Welsh Government, the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply, the International Chamber of Commerce ( ICC ), and Business West. On 31 January 2017 it had 10,153 companies with statements held within its open data register, making it the largest modern slavery statement register globally. Prostitution In November 2014 Fiona Mactaggart MP added an amendment to the bill concerning prostitution, aimed at criminalising the purchase of sex. In the bill 's debate in the House House of Commons, John McDonnell MP argued against the amendment. He highlighted the lack of evidence for any correlation between the Swedish sex purchase ban and a reduction in numbers of sex workers or their clients, and cited findings `` that not only do such measures not work, they actually cause harm ''. McDonnell quoted Reverend Andrew Dotchin, a founding member of the Safety First Coalition : `` I strongly oppose clauses on prostitution in the Modern Slavery Bill, which would make the purchase of sex illegal. Criminalising clients does not stop prostitution, nor does it stop the criminalisation of women. It drives prostitution further underground, making it more dangerous and stigmatising for women. '' The amendment was subsequently dropped. Tied visas In March 2015 an amendment was brought forward in the House of Lords concerning migrant workers who are brought to the UK by their employer using `` tied visas ''. These workers are typically foreign domestic workers and they are not allowed to legally leave their job and find employment elsewhere. The system of tied visas, introduced in 2012, has been compared to the Kafala system of employer - sponsored workers used in some Middle East countries. The amendment would have given workers in the UK using tied visas the right to change employer, but it was rejected by the House of Commons. Criticism of the bill Experts in the issue were sceptical of the bill, believing that it had many shortcomings. Parosha Chandran, a human rights barrister and United Nations expert on trafficking, claimed that `` the bill is very poor on victim protection ''. Anthony Steen, who advised on the legislation and chairs the Human Trafficking Foundation, claimed that the bill failed to focus on the needs of victims of trafficking in the UK. `` The bill is wholly and exclusively about law enforcement -- but it should n't be enforcement - based, it should be victim - based '', he said. Human rights group Liberty argued that the bill should have : Addressed abuses associated with the Domestic Overseas Worker Visa which prohibits individuals from changing their employer Addressed the conflict of interest arising from UK Visas and Immigration being involved with the National Referral Mechanism which is used to identify trafficking victims and which acts as a gateway to support Extended legal aid to slavery victims in civil matters Implementation of the act One of the aims of the Home Affairs Select Committee 's inquiry into prostitution legislation, which began in January 2016, was to examine the impact that the act had had on trafficking for the purposes of prostitution and whether further measures were needed to help those involved in prostitution to leave it. Submissions to the inquiry published in June 2016 said that there had been 1,139 victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation in 2014. A review of the act in 2016 found that 289 offences were prosecuted under the act in 2015, and that there had been a 40 % rise in the number of victims referred for support. In July 2016 the Anti-Slavery Commissioner suggested that the number of crimes being reported and investigated under the act was falling short of the real number of cases of human trafficking and modern slavery. In the same month prime minister Theresa May announced additional measures to assist the implementation of the act : The creation of a task force to coordinate government action A budget allocation of £ 33.5 million An assessment of consistency in police approach by Her Majesty 's Inspectorate of Constabulary In 2017, figures published by the National Crime Agency indicated that there were over 300 current police operations investigating possible violations of the act, and that a total of 3,805 people had been reported as potential victims in 2016. See also Human trafficking in the United Kingdom Migrant domestic workers Ethical trade External links The Modern Slavery Act ( 2015 ) -- UK government website Modern Slavery in Supply Chains -- an overview from CORE TISCreport.org -- open data anti-slavery registry ( UK and global ) References Jump up ^ `` Modern Slavery Act 2015 ''. UK Parliament. Retrieved 7 April 2015. Jump up ^ Wood, Helois ( 18 October 2013 ). `` Old Bexley and Sidcup MP James Brokenshire announces plans to help end human trafficking ''. Newshopper. Jump up ^ `` Modern Slavery Bill 2014 - 15 ''. UK Parliament. Retrieved 20 November 2014. Jump up ^ `` Modern Slavery Bill 2014 - 15 - Commons Library Research Paper ''. UK Parliament. 7 July 2014. Jump up ^ Michael Pollitt ( 16 October 2014 ). `` Unfinished abolitionists : Britain returns to the frontline of the war on slavery ''. New Statesman. Jump up ^ Jehan - Philippe Wood ; Hari Jon ( 27 February 2015 ). `` Update on the Modern Slavery Bill - consultation on the transparency in supply chains clause ''. www.lexology.com. Globe Business Publishing Ltd. Retrieved 9 March 2015. Jump up ^ The Modern Slavery Act 2015 ( Transparency in Supply Chain ) Regulations 2015, regulation 2 Jump up ^ Sharon Benning - Prince ( 31 July 2015 ). `` A Guide to the Modern Slavery Act for Your Business ''. ContractStore Legal Business Blog. Retrieved 7 August 2015. Jump up ^ `` World 's largest anti-slavery register reaches 10k milestone, boosting the fight against exploitation '' ( Press release ). TISC Report. 30 January 2017. Jump up ^ Julia O'Connell Davidson ( 4 November 2014 ). `` Convenient conflations : modern slavery, trafficking, and prostitution ''. Open Democracy. Jump up ^ Katie Nguyen ( 3 Nov 2014 ). `` British parliament to debate whether paying for sex should be illegal ''. Thomson Reuters Foundation. Jump up ^ `` House of Commons ''. UK Parliament. 4 November 2014. Jump up ^ Niki Adams ( 6 November 2014 ). `` Listen to sex workers -- we can explain what decriminalisation would mean ''. The Guardian. Jump up ^ Sloan, Alastair ( 17 March 2015 ). `` UK tied visa system ' turning domestic workers into modern - day slaves ' ''. The Guardian. London. Retrieved 19 March 2015. Jump up ^ Perraudin, Frances ( 17 March 2015 ). `` Modern slavery bill amendment rejected by MPs ''. The Guardian. London. Retrieved 19 March 2015. Jump up ^ `` Government 's Modern Slavery Bill will ' fail victims and spare criminals ' ''. The Independent. 14 December 2013. Jump up ^ `` Modern Slavery Bill must go further ''. Liberty. 9 March 2014. Jump up ^ Nick Hudson ( 18 January 2016 ). `` Decriminalise prostitution call as MPs look at shifting criminal blame ''. www.policeprofessional.com. Retrieved 5 January 2016. Jump up ^ Home Affairs Select Committee ( 16 June 2016 ). `` Key facts ''. www.parliament.uk. Jump up ^ `` Theresa May pledges £ 33m boost for fight against slavery in Britain ''. The Guardian. 31 July 2016. Retrieved 31 July 2016. Jump up ^ `` Modern slavery and trafficking ' in every UK town and city ' ''. BBC News. 10 August 2017. United Kingdom legislation Pre-Parliamentary legislation List of English statutes Charter of Liberties Magna Carta Acts of Parliament by states preceding the Kingdom of Great Britain Acts of the Parliament of England to 1483 1485 -- 1601 1603 -- 1641 Interregnum ( 1642 -- 1660 ) 1660 -- 1699 1700 -- 1706 Acts of the Parliament of Scotland Acts of Parliament of the Kingdom of Great Britain 1707 -- 1719 1720 -- 1739 1740 -- 1759 1760 -- 1779 1780 -- 1800 Acts of the Parliament of Ireland to 1700 1701 -- 1800 Acts of Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 1801 -- 1819 1820 -- 1839 1840 -- 1859 1860 -- 1879 1880 -- 1899 1900 -- 1919 1920 -- 1939 1940 -- 1959 1960 -- 1979 1980 -- 1999 2000 to date Halsbury 's Statutes Legislation.gov.uk Short titles Church of England measures List Church of England Assembly ( Powers ) Act 1919 Legislation of devolved institutions Acts of the Scottish Parliament List Acts and Measures of the National Assembly for Wales List Acts of the Northern Ireland Assembly Acts of the Parliament of Northern Ireland Orders in Council for Northern Ireland Orders - in - Council Order in Council Secondary legislation United Kingdom Statutory Instruments Scottish Statutory Instruments Acts of Sederunt Acts of Adjournal Legislation relating to the European Union 1972 to date Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Modern_Slavery_Act_2015&oldid=801217147 '' Categories : Criminal law of the United Kingdom 2015 in British law Slavery law United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 2015 Slavery in the United Kingdom Talk Contents About Wikipedia Türkçe Edit links This page was last edited on 18 September 2017, at 11 : 36. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: when did the modern slavery act come into force
Answer: 26 March 2015