Modern Slavery within the care sector
A report from the House of Lords issued in October 2024 highlighted a significant increase in modern slavery cases in the care sector, with a 400% rise in reported victims, since the sector was added to the Shortage Occupation List. Aimee Stokes, Senior Associate (Barrister) at Mills & Reeve, explores the legislation in this area and its implication and application to the care sector.
The Modern Slavery Act 2015 (the Act) is an increasingly utilised, comprehensive piece of legislation which represents a significant step forward in tackling modern day slavery in the UK. The Act consolidates previous offences relating to slavery and human trafficking into a single piece of legislation and increases the maximum penalties for such offences. For example, the offence of slavery, servitude and forced or compulsory labour, contrary to section 1 the Act, carries life imprisonment.
The Act also introduced two key civil orders:
- Slavery and Trafficking Prevention Orders (‘STPO’); and
- Slavery and Trafficking Risk Orders (‘STRO’).
Breach of either order constitutes a criminal offence, punishable with up to five years imprisonment.
These orders allow authorities, such as the Police and National Crime Agency, to apply to restrict the activities of individuals who pose a risk of committing offences under the Act. These orders go towards the overarching aim of seeking to protect vulnerable individuals from harm and exploitation.
Recent cases
In November 2023, an interim STRO was imposed against a care service manager in Leicester. The CQC published an inspection report of the care provider on 25 May 2022. Of note the report found “staff were scheduled to provide unrealistic hours of care which meant we were not always assured people received the care and support they needed”. Further, “another relative told us, "There's little conversation and I don't really know anything about them as people””. Thus, raising concerns about exploitation of employees.
There are limited reported cases, but this case in particular demonstrates the significance of CQC inspection reports in evidencing potential exploitation before the criminal courts.
What is the CQC’s position?
The CQC issued a statement in October 2023 addressing the CQC’s role in tackling modern day slavery and human trafficking.
The statement reiterates the importance of inspection reports in safeguarding people from modern slavery and human trafficking offences. The statement goes on to highlight that the CQC apply strict standards and monitoring to ensure their suppliers comply with anti-slavery and human trafficking policies.
This statement coupled with the increasing number of reports for this type of offending, raises the question whether the regulator could be doing more to protect the individuals working within the health and care sector. This is a timely question in light of the recently published report of Dr Penny Dash on the operational effectiveness of the CQC.
What can be said is that collaboration between the various investigative authorities and the regulator is paramount to effectively implementing the aims of the Modern Slavery Act. The care sector continues to have an incredibly high demand for labour. Individuals working within the sector and those relying on its services are some the most vulnerable members of our society. Therefore, this is without doubt an area which is going to require close supervision in years to come.
This article first appeared in the December 2024 issue of the Caring Times magazine
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