House of Lords
Parliament

Home Office Minister Lord Bates warns that any process to put something on a statutory footing can make it inflexible and "unresponsive to changing demands" due to the requirement for further legislation to make changes.

Quoting the findings of the review of the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) led by senior civil servant Jeremy Oppenheim, which has been quoted by several peers in the debate, Lord Bates says that "putting the NRM on a statuary framework will not change the UK's commitment and obligations".

The most important thing is to make sure "victims are spotted and protected in the first place, and we can only help victims quickly and effectively" he says.

Lord Rosser withdraws his amendment on the understanding that there should be further discussions on finding the right balance between "flexibility" and giving the NRM greater weight.

House of Commons
Parliament

MPs agree to the Lords amendments which would allow the Welsh Assembly to let 16 and 17-year-olds vote in an income tax referendum.

And that ends the debate on the Wales Bill and MPs move swiftly on to the adjournment debate.

Labour MP John McDonnell is leading a debate on work-related stress and prison officers.

House of Lords
Parliament

Conservative peer Lord James of Blackheath says the amendment "greatly causes him concern", and says referral networks aren't enough.

Instead "every child put into a migration situation" needs to be given legal status in the UK and "forced transportation" needs to be outlawed, he says.

House of Commons
Parliament

Labour's Geraint Davies says he is broadly a supporter of votes at 16, but is concerned that introducing them via a "very technical" referendum on income tax powers could lead to an "extremely low" turnout of young people.

House of Lords
Parliament

The Labour amendment would put the National Referral Mechanism on a statutory footing rather than its current "non-mandatory" basis.

Shadow home office minster Lord Rosser says the current scheme is not well known, and so is not being used enough. Placing it into primary legislation will give "greater transparency", create greater awareness of the scheme and would "provide an opportunity to establish a clear review and appeal process", he says.

House of Commons
Parliament

Shadow Wales minister Nia Griffith tells MPs she has "long been a supporter of votes at 16".

House of Lords
Parliament

ECPAT - a global network of organisations aimed at eliminating child prostitution, child pornography and the trafficking of children - has produced a handy guide, external on how the human trafficking National Referral Mechanism works.

House of Commons
Parliament

Alun Cairns says the government backs a voting age of 16 in a Welsh referendum but argues there is "no consensus" on a lower voting age for elections.

House of Commons
Parliament

MPs are now considering allowing the Welsh Assembly to let 16-year-olds to vote in an income tax referendum.

Minister Alun Cairns pays tribute to the political engagement of 16 and 17-year-olds in the Scottish independence referendum.

Labour MP Chris Ruane says too few young people are registered to vote and urges ministers to work to raise the numbers.

The minimum voting age for local and general elections is 18, but voters aged 16 and 17 were allowed to take part in Scotland's referendum.

House of Lords
Parliament

Peers now turn to the main business in the House of Lords today: the committee stage of the Modern Slavery Bill.

First: a Labour tabled amendment to put the framework for identifying and assisting victims of slavery and human trafficking- known as a National Referral Mechanism - on a statutory footing.

House of Commons
Parliament

MPs agree Lords amendments which would allow the Welsh Assembly to set separate Welsh income tax rates.

House of Lords
Parliament

Crossbench peer Lord Ramsbotham asks whether a census will be made of "skills needs and skills shortages" in the working world, which can be referred to by teachers and careers advisors.

Lord Nash says he will pass this idea on to the new company.

House of Lords
Parliament

Labour peer Baroness Turner of Camden asks what role trade unions can have in the provision of careers advice. Trade unions can be very important in "encouraging children who would otherwise miss out on education earlier in their careers" she says.

Lord Nash says the involvement of trade unions is extremely important and will be considered.

House of Commons
Parliament

Plaid Cymru's Jonathan Edwards tells MPs that his party "will not allow our country to be treated as a second class nation by the Westminster establishment".

House of Lords
Parliament

Responding to the statement, shadow education minister Baroness Jones of Whitchurch welcomes the announcement of a new careers body but asks "what took you so long?", claiming careers services deteriorated under the watch of this government.

The provision of careers advice is "only one part of the challenges exist" in the sector she says, claiming children are "crying out for one-to-one careers advice".

The new plan has "all the hallmarks of a policy scrambled together to plug a hole", she says,

House of Commons
Parliament

In the debate on the Wales Bill, Conservative MP Glyn Davies accuses Welsh First Minister Carwyn Jones of trying to find reasons not to have a referendum on devolving income tax.

"Welsh Labour in Cardiff are desperate to avoid financial accountability," he claims.

Mr Davies says he has accepted that the bill will allow for a referendum but thinks one is not necessary.

The issue could be decided at a general election, he believes.

House of Lords
Parliament

Education Minister Lord Nash is now repeating a statement made by Education Secretary Nicky Morgan earlier in the House of Commons on preparing young people for the world of work.

Important government statements made in the House of Commons will sometimes be repeated in the Lords at an appropriate time to fit in with the main business.

Once the statement has been repeated, peers have an opportunity to quiz a government minister on the content of the statement, as in the House of Commons.

House of Lords
Parliament

Liberal Democrat peer Baroness Falkner of Margravine accuses the government of shifting its position and suggesting that Lord Ashton had ruled out any conversations with parts of the Assad regime to allow them to continue to rule, even in a transitional government.

Lord Ashton says he will not give out Foreign Office policy today, but will write to Baroness Falkner.

House of Lords
Parliament

Responding to Lord Rosser's comments, government spokesman Lord Ashton says he doesn't accept the current Vulnerable Person refugee scheme - which has taken in 90 people - "isn't working".

The programme is on track to deal with "several hundred victims over three years", which is in addition to 3,400 people taken in under normal asylum rules.

The government will not change the net migration calculation as it is currently based on a UN definition of migration, and accounts for those figures in a way all countries internationally recognise.

House of Lords
Parliament

Responding to the statement Shadow Home Office Minister Lord Rosser tells peers that Labour thinks refugees should be taken out of the government's immigration target as it is clouding their consciences over helping vulnerable people.

Lord Rosser tells peers the Syrian refugee crisis is the worst since World War II, calls on the government to increase the numbers being allowed into the country, and sign up to the United Nations programme to give asylum to the most vulnerable Syrian refugees.

According to the Press Association, the government has only accepted 90 refugees, the government must "do more", he says.