UWTSD is hosting a Modern Slavery Conference on 26th May to bring together academia and front-line multi-agency organisations to collaborate to identify victims, provide safety and support, and where possible bring their perpetrators to justice.

The event agenda can be seen below:

9:30-10:00: Registration

10:00-10:10: Welcome Address by Professor Medwin Hughes DL, Vice-Chancellor, UWTSD

10:10-10:20: Address by Caroline Haughey QC, leading lawyer in modern slavery and trafficking in the UK

10:20-10:40: Keynote Speaker - Kim Ann Williamson MBE, Professor of Practice at UWTSD and Strategic Objectives Programme Lead for the Wales Anti-Slavery Leadership Group

10:40-10:55: Chief Constable Sawyer QPM , of Devon and Cornwall Police and National Police Chief Lead for preventing Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking

10:55-11:10: Richard Tumelty, Regional MSOIC Coordinator

11:10-11:25 Jeff Cuthbert, Police and Crime Commissioner, Gwent Police

11:25 -11:50: Break

11:50-12:10: Joanne Hopkins, Programme Director for Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), Criminal Justice and Violence Prevention at Public Health Wales

12:10-12:30: Panel Discussion

12:30-13:15: Breakout Room Workshop

13:15-14:00: Lunch and Networking

14:00-14:45: Breakout Room Workshop

14:45-15:30: Breakout Room Workshop

15:30-15:45: Break

15.45-16:15: Q&A Panel

16:15-16:30: Conference Summary and Close.

The Breakout Room Workshops include:

• Labour Exploitation and Supply Chains:

In this workshop, Laura Thomas from the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority, Ben Bruten from the Employment Agencies Standard Inspectorate, and Josh Vuglar from Welsh Government will discuss labour exploitation and the impact on global supply chains. They will explore how organisations in Wales and the UK work together to tackle these risks and safeguard workers’ rights.

• The Slavery Free Campus:

This workshop centres around a blueprint for university action against modern slavery. Following some research recently conducted by the Rights Lab, University of Nottingham, this workshop outlines the ways in which universities operate as sites of exploitation risk, risk mitigation, and antislavery education and engagement. Participants will have time to consider and discuss the comprehensive blueprint which comprises of 38 practical steps assigned to different university units for action

• Role of Criminal Justice Systems in Tackling Modern Slavery:

The workshop will be a practical workshop that will focus on Victim considerations, the National Referral Mechanism, the Four stage approach to the Prosecution Decision, Section 45 Defence and will showcase important Cases and the lessons to be learned from them. It will be a shared workshop with the Crown Prosecution service and Gangmaster & Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA).

• First Responders Role and a Multi-agency Approach:

The workshop will cover the partnership approach in Wales which promotes the victim pathway, a look at the HT MARAC which is unique to Wales and also cover a bit around the NRM process, stressing the importance of including the Single Competent Authority as a partner.

You will be able to select your workshops on the day.

This event will also be streamed live online. We will share a link on UWTSD's website and on the Eventbrite page. If you book a livestream ticket, we will email you the link prior to the event.

The livestream will be available via this link: https://uwtsd.ac.uk/modern-slavery-conference/.