Following the Queen’s Speech, 4 June, Caritas Social Action Network (CSAN), the social action arm of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, has welcomed the Government’s commitment to tackle Modern Slavery. CSAN hope the Bill will strengthen the support given to victims of trafficking as recommended in CSAN’s submission to the Joint-Select Committee.
The Queen’s Speech included the anticipated and long-awaited Modern Slavery Bill.
Patrick Kinsella, CSAN’s Public Affairs Officer said that “CSAN welcome the government’s commitment to tackling this issue which we hope achieves Royal Assent before the end of the Parliament.
He cautioned that “as mentioned in CSAN’s submission to the Joint-Select Committee, we are pleased to see that more will be done to strengthen the support of victims of trafficking, and hope that this extends to the availability of legal aid and access to healthcare.”
The announcement of the Childcare Payments Bill was also welcomed in a joint statement from CSAN and the Catholic Education Service (CES).
CSAN and CES welcomed this new Bill:
“CSAN and CES are very pleased with the plans to provide support for families through tax-free childcare. This will be a significant boost for both low and middle-income families who struggle to meet soaring childcare costs. This is an encouraging move from the government providing parents both with greater support and with wider choice.”
CSAN is also pleased that the government will introduce the Small Business and Enterprise Bill.
CSAN’s Public Affairs Officer, Patrick Kinsella said:
“CSAN is pleased that the government has committed to improve the fairness of contracts for low paid workers and the review of zero-hour contracts.
For many people zero-hour contracts can create numerous difficulties in managing finances and offer little in terms of stability, permanence and capacity to budget. We particularly hope that the legislation will prohibit exclusivity clauses.
We are concerned that the refusal of a zero-hours contract can lead to benefit sanctions. We hope the government reverses its position on this.”
