The office of Michael Lane, Police and Crime Commissioner share this latest news. Ed
Michael Lane, Police and Crime Commissioner, attended a service at Westminster Abbey this week to commemorate the work, both historical and contemporary, to tackle slavery.
Michael Lane said,
“I was very glad to be at Westminster Abbey to commemorate the work of William Wilberforce and mark the UK’s commitment to combat Modern Slavery.
“Modern Slavery is a serious crime and I am delighted that it is a national priority for Government and locally in my Constabulary area.”
Hampshire an early adopter
The UK Government has announced the full national roll-out of Independent Child Trafficking Advocates, to provide specialist support to children.
In advance of this, there will be three ‘early adopter’ sites, one of which is Hampshire. The Government has also established a Child Trafficking Protection Fund of up to £3 million over the next three years to fund work with trafficked children.
Committed to protecting people at risk
Michael Lane continued,
“Hampshire Constabulary is committed to identifying and protecting people at risk of trafficking, exploitation and slavery. Both the Constabulary and I will continue our intention to bring to justice those who commit these crimes, and we want to help prevent such abuse happening in the first place.
“I am glad that this work is an example of the multi-agency cooperation across my area; I am not surprised to see that one of Hampshire’s MPs, Damien Hinds MP, is a leading voice in the report from the Inter-Departmental Ministerial Group which highlights this issue, but recognises there is still more to do.”
The implementation of the Independent Child Trafficking Advocates service in the Hampshire Constabulary area is expected to begin later this year.
