asked Her Majesty’s Government:

What is their target date for the ratification of the Council of Europe convention on human trafficking; and what progress has been made on their action plan.

My Lords, perhaps I should explain and share my disappointment with the House that my noble friend Lord West is not able to answer this Question this afternoon. Unfortunately, he has been detained due to a fatality on a train in front of his own while returning to London from a ministerial visit.

We will ratify the convention as soon as we can as part of our wider strategy to combat this horrific crime. That will take time because of our legal system. Unlike in some countries, there must be full compliance with the convention before ratification. We continue to make progress on all areas outlined in our action plan, most notably in relation to enforcement issues, which has helped to secure 67 convictions to date.

My Lords, I am very grateful to my noble friend for standing in at such short notice and I thank him for his reply. Will he convey to his colleagues that, with the best will in the world, that reply does not add much to what we were assured of during the passage of the UK Borders Bill through the House last summer. Of course, it is essential—the Government are to be commended on wanting—to insist that we have everything in place to make meaningful success of ratification. I applaud that totally, but the process of getting that action plan together is being seen by some as a substitute for getting on with the job and actually implementing the convention. Could we not set a time limit for completion of work on the action plan?

My Lords, I fully concede that my noble friend makes a fair and reasonable point and my ministerial colleagues and I share his frustration about progress on this issue. However, it is right that we put all the measures in place. I would not like to see us in a position where we were criticised for failing to conduct ourselves entirely properly. The Government have been vigorous in ensuring that the right measures are adopted as part of their overall action plan. I know that many noble Lords have congratulated the Government on our support for the Poppy Project and Pentameter 2 and on our rigorous activity in terms of enforcement. We are making progress in those areas.

My Lords, the Minister will no doubt confirm, as he said in a letter to those of us who took part in the debate initiated by the noble Lord, Lord Sheikh, that a progress report will be published in March. Will that clearly identify those elements of the action plan which have to be completed in order to enable us to ratify the treaty? With regard to the submission of the implementation plan to the interdepartmental ministerial group scheduled for July, could that not be brought forward to March so that it could be published and discussed at the same time as the progress report?

My Lords, I understand that the interdepartmental ministerial group meets on a quarterly basis. The next meeting is in January when there will be a review of progress on the moves towards ratification. The benefit of that process is that it is transparent. I also understand that reports are received by the Joint Committee on Human Rights as part of the read-out from the interdepartmental ministerial group.

My Lords, I declare an interest as a member of a committee examining human trafficking. Do the Government have a clear policy on dealing with missing children? Many of those who come to this country—several thousand in the past five years—are missing and I am not certain whether there is a clear policy yet from the Government about how to deal with that.

My Lords, I assure the noble and learned Baroness that we have a clear policy in place and I am more than happy to share with her the outline of that strategy. Perhaps I may conduct some correspondence with her which will provide a more thoughtful response that I can give this afternoon.

My Lords, my understanding is that this treaty cannot be ratified until some areas of the convention have been amended. What is the timescale for amending those areas of the convention in both primary and secondary legislation and for bringing the proposals to Parliament so that the Government are in a position to ratify the treaty, which I do not think they are at the moment?

My Lords, the noble Baroness makes a good point. We understand that we will have to bring forward legislation to ensure that we can properly comply with and ratify the treaty and slots will be identified for that. The legislation will cover such areas as access to benefits and identification of the person involved. Those issues need to be defined in legislation and they will be part of our legislative timetable.

My Lords, while we have had many Questions on this issue, the same answer is given time after time, both to my colleagues in the other place and here. We are told that the Government will be doing this soon. Will it be in two weeks, two months or two years? As the noble and learned Baroness, Lady Butler-Sloss, knows, at the same time children are being brought to this country and are being trafficked into other countries. The same applies to women, men and families. We have to take a stand. We are one of the main countries in the EU and we should be taking a lead there and in the Council of Europe. We are not taking a lead and we should be. Will the Minister please tell us when we are going to ratify the convention so that we can take a lead on this matter?

My Lords, I entirely understand the noble Baroness’s frustration. It is not possible for me to give a specific timetable. I have identified some of the key points. Despite the concern about timetables we should all remember that the most important things are enforcement activity, ensuring that we put the services in place for those who require our protection and that our staff and colleagues are fully trained. It is most important that all those things take place. Operations such as Pentameter are undoubtedly leaders in their field and are recognised as such across Europe.