Asked by: Lord McColl of Dulwich (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many people entered the National Referral Mechanism in January and February of (1) 2022, and (2) 2023; and of those, how many received reasonable grounds decisions.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
The Home Office publishes quarterly and annual statistics regarding the (NRM). The 2022 statistics can be found here;
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1139171/modern-slavery-national-referral-mechanism-and-duty-to-notify-statistics-uk-end-of-year-summary-2022.ods Data for Q1 2023 is due for publication on 04/05/2023. The data shows the number of NRM referrals received each quarter and the number of reasonable grounds decisions made each quarter regardless of when the referral was received.
Further disaggregated data is published via the UK Data Service.
The disaggregated data shows the year and quarter in which an NRM referral was received and the year and quarter in which a reasonable grounds decision was made.
Asked by: Lord McColl of Dulwich (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many individuals arrived in the UK across the English channel in small boats and entered the National Referral Mechanism between 2018 and 2022; and what was the breakdown of these individuals by (1) gender, (2) age, (3) nationality, and (4) location of claimed exploitation, where such a claim was made.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
The Home Office publishes statistics on small boat arrivals to the UK in the ‘Irregular Migration to the UK statistics’ report on GOV.uk. Data on NRM referrals from small boat arrivals are published in the ‘Potential victims of modern slavery’ section of the ‘Irregular migration to the UK’ publication. The latest data relates to the end of December 2022. Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’ on GOV.uk
The Home Office does not publish data on NRM referrals from small boat arrivals by gender, age, nationality, or location of claimed exploitation. Official statistics published by the Home Office are kept under review in line with the Code of Practice for Statistics, taking into account a number of factors including user needs, as well as quality and availability of data.
Asked by: Lord McColl of Dulwich (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the average wait for a person entering the National Referral Mechanism to receive a reasonable grounds decision (1) before the updated statutory guidance came into effect on 30 January, and (2) since the introduction of that updated guidance.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
Reasonable Grounds decisions will be made as soon as possible following referral. Statistics on the timescales of Reasonable Grounds decisions for victims of modern slavery are not currently published
Asked by: Lord McColl of Dulwich (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they will publish the guidance on providing 12 months’ support to modern slavery victims who hold a positive conclusive grounds decision.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
We are currently reviewing the commitment made regarding the provision of 12 months’ support to victims who have received a positive Conclusive Grounds decision, both in light of the urgent need to tackle misuse of the National Referral Mechanism and in order to consider how to best serve the individual needs of modern slavery victims
The Government remains committed to ensuring confirmed victims of modern slavery can access appropriate needs-based support in line with international and domestic legal obligations. Where required, confirmed adult victims of modern slavery who have outstanding recovery needs will continue to receive appropriate support under the Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract in England and Wales, alongside support provided by wider statutory services.
Asked by: Lord McColl of Dulwich (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made with the recruitment of the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
The UK has led the world in protecting victims of modern slavery and we will continue to identify and support those who have suffered intolerable abuse at the hands of criminals and traffickers.
The Home Secretary recognises the importance of the role of Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner, and has committed to running a new open competition to recruit for this role, and the process will begin shortly.
Asked by: Lord McColl of Dulwich (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have consulted voluntary sector organisations working with victims of modern slavery on the text of the draft guidance for Modern Slavery Reasonable Grounds decision making referred to by the Minister for Immigration in his Written Ministerial Statement of 13 December 2022; and when this revised guidance will come into effect.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
The Modern Slavery Unit has consulted with key stakeholders and modern slavery first responders throughout the development process for the updated Reasonable Grounds Statutory Guidance update.
The updated Reasonable Grounds Guidance was published on 30 January 2023 as part of the Modern Slavery: Statutory Guidance for England and Wales (under s49 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015) and Non-Statutory Guidance for Scotland and Northern Ireland.
This change in guidance builds on and simplifies much of the current guidance to ensure decision making at the Reasonable Grounds stage is robust and consistent while still providing scope to consider instances where a referral may be received with very little additional information.
Asked by: Lord McColl of Dulwich (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government when the 2022 UK annual report on modern slavery will be published.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
This Government remains committed to tackling the heinous crime of modern slavery and ensuring that victims are provided with the support they need to begin rebuilding their lives and that those responsible are prosecuted. We will continue to pursue the criminals who seek to profit from these crimes, and ensure genuine victims get the support they deserve.
Given recent changes, Ministers are considering next steps on our strategic approach, including publication of a Modern Slavery Report.
Asked by: Lord McColl of Dulwich (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what training is given to First Responders in the National Referral Mechanism about the specific (1) indicators, (2) needs, and (3) entitlements, of British nationals who are victims of modern slavery.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
First Responder Organisations (FROs) in the National Referral Mechanism are responsible for providing training for those within their organisation who act as First Responders, taking account of the specific circumstances of their role.
The Home Office published an e-learning package for First Responders. This consists of two modules, one on indicators of modern slavery and how to make a referral into the NRM (published summer 2020) and a second (published in June 2021) which focuses on the vulnerabilities of child victims.
All confirmed victims are entitled to tailored support based on their individual needs, irrespective of nationality.
Asked by: Lord McColl of Dulwich (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the reasons for the increasing number of British nationals referred to the National Referral Mechanism for victims of modern slavery, and (2) the measures needed to prevent this exploitation.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
In 2021 the most common nationality referred to the National Referral Mechanism was UK nationals, which accounted for 31% (3,952) of all potential victims (compared to 34% in 2020). A high number of those UK nationals are children. For those exploited as children, an increase in the identification of ‘county lines’ cases has partially driven the rise in the number of cases.
Preventing vulnerable people being drawn into slavery is one of the most effective ways of tackling this crime.
The UK Government has invested £10 million, via the Arts and Humanities Research Council, to establish the Modern Slavery Policy and Evidence Centre, to transform the evidence base underpinning our policy response to modern slavery, including what works to prevent this exploitation. We have also invested in a modern slavery prevention fund to test new approaches to preventing modern slavery.
Asked by: Lord McColl of Dulwich (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the particular circumstances which make people vulnerable to exploitation through 'cuckooing', and of the needs of those victims for protection and support.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
This Government is aware of the abhorrent practice of cuckooing which often occurs in the context of the county lines drugs supply model.
We are determined to crack down on county lines gangs and that is why, through the ten-year Drugs Strategy, we are investing up to £145m over three years in our successful County Lines Programme.
Since November 2019 the County Lines Programme has closed over 2,400 lines, made over 8,000 arrests, and engaged over 9,500 individuals through safeguarding interventions.
Whilst data on cuckooing is not held centrally, the latest week of intensification against county lines (conducted by the Home Office-funded National County Lines Co-ordination Centre (NCLCC) in March 2022), saw 799 cuckooed properties visited.
The Home Office is working with NCLCC to raise awareness of cuckooing through training and peer reviews as well as promoting best practice of how to tackle it through the use of civil orders and multi-agency partnership working and intelligence sharing.