Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 6 March 2018 to Question 129973 on Slavery, for what reasons an extension of support for victims of trafficking will not be automatic until (a) her Department publishes its updated guidance on discretionary leave to remain and (b) a decision has been made on those cases in accordance with that updated guidance.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
In line with standard practice, support providers under the Victim Care Contract can seek an extension of support for confirmed victims who are awaiting a discretionary leave decision.
Whilst we consider next steps, interim guidance has been issued to caseworkers to put on hold any refusals of discretionary leave to remain decisions for confirmed victims of modern slavery. Grants of discretionary leave are continuing. This guidance is available at:
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, by what date he plans to respond to the letter of the right hon. Member for Birkenhead dated 11 May 2018 on human trafficking and forced labour.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
There is no record of the letter of 11 May being received. A copy was secured on 15 June and the contents will be considered. The departmental target is to respond within 15 working days.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what provision he has made to deal with the potential increase in demand for capacity resulting from (a) victims having their support extended due to the interim guidance given as a result of the PK (Ghana) decision and (b) continued referrals into the National Referral Mechanism as a result of the PK (Ghana) decision; and whether additional financial resources have been made available for such potential increases.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Home Office commissions The Salvation Army to provide a comprehensive package of support to potential victims of modern slavery referred into the National Referral Mechanism. This is delivered through a network of support providers throughout England and Wales.
Whilst we consider the implication of the Court of Appeal judgment in the case of (PK (Ghana) v SSHD), interim guidance has been issued to caseworkers to put on hold any refusals of discretionary leave to remain (DL) decisions for confirmed victims of modern slavery.
Grants of discretionary leave are continuing. This guidance is available at:
In line with standard practice, support providers under the Victim Care Contract can seek an extension of support for confirmed victims who are awaiting a discretionary leave decision.
This service has been designed to accommodate both potential increases in the numbers of people requiring support and to provide extensions of care for those already in the system for as long as it is required.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 6 March 2018 to Question 129973 on Slavery, how many people issued with positive conclusive grounds decisions (a) received a holding letter confirming a determination is on hold, (b) continue to be supported by the adult victim care contract and (c) had support from the adult victim care contract suspended since his Department published its interim guidance.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Court of Appeal issued a judgment in the case of (PK (Ghana) v SSHD) on 13 February 2018. We are considering the implications of the judgment.
As we do so, interim guidance has been issued to caseworkers to put on hold any refusals of discretionary leave to remain (DL) decisions for confirmed victims of modern slavery. Grants of discretionary leave are continuing. This guidance is available at:
In line with standard practice, support providers under the Victim Care Contract can seek an extension of support for confirmed victims who are awaiting a discretionary leave decision.
We are not aware of any individuals in support whose DL decision is on hold where continuing support has not been requested by the support provider.
The Home Office does not publish data on how many such determinations are on hold.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 6 March 2018 to Question 129973 on Slavery: what the status is of victims of modern slavery for whom a decision on the grant of a residence permit has been made under the interim Home Office guidance.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
A confirmed victim of modern slavery granted a residence permit under the interim guidance will be granted discretionary leave to remain in the UK. This leave is granted with access to public funds and permission to work.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of victims of people trafficking who will be eligible for support under local authority anti-trafficking pilots.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Government wants to ensure that when adult victims of modern slavery leave National Referral Mechanism (NRM) support, they are able to begin re-building their lives as early as possible. Victims leaving the NRM can either be supported to return to their country of origin, apply for asylum, or move into a local community.
As part of NRM reform, Home Office Ministers committed to working with local authorities to test ‘transition pathways’ for victims who move out of NRM support and into local communities, with a view to identifying best practice.
Over the next year, we will be working with six local authorities on this project which will contribute to a more robust evidence base including the number of victims who move into local communities after NRM support and what support they require.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how the eligibility criteria for local authority anti-trafficking pilots relating to the trafficking of people have been determined.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Government wants to ensure that when adult victims of modern slavery leave National Referral Mechanism (NRM) support, they are able to begin re-building their lives as early as possible. Victims leaving the NRM can either be supported to return to their country of origin, apply for asylum, or move into a local community.
As part of NRM reform, Home Office Ministers committed to working with local authorities to test ‘transition pathways’ for victims who move out of NRM support and into local communities, with a view to identifying best practice.
Over the next year, we will be working with six local authorities on this project which will contribute to a more robust evidence base including the number of victims who move into local communities after NRM support and what support they require.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the article entitled Premier League to question clubs over trafficking, published by the Times on 23 April 2018, what assessment he has made of the level of risk of child trafficking within the supply chains of Premier League football clubs; and what steps the Government is taking to tackle modern slavery in sport supply chains.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The threat of modern slavery and human trafficking is assessed by the National Crime Agency on a regular basis to inform the National Strategic Assessment. There has not been a specific assessment of the level of risk of child trafficking within the supply chains of Premier League football clubs.
Through the Transparency in Supply Chains provisions of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 the Government has introduced a requirement for large businesses, including Premier League football clubs, to publish an annual statement setting out the steps they are taking to prevent and tackle modern slavery in their supply chains. We are currently considering what more can be done on a sector by sector basis to ensure that businesses are taking serious steps to prevent modern slavery.
The Government recognises that child victims of modern slavery and trafficking are particularly vulnerable and has committed to the full national roll out of Independent Child Trafficking Advocates as well as allocating £2.2m from the Child Trafficking Protection Fund to deliver tailored support for victims of child trafficking.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) direct employees, (b) agency staff and (c) outsourced staff working for (i) her Department and (ii) agencies of her Department are paid less than the living wage, as defined by the Living Wage Foundation.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
In April 2016, the Government introduced a higher minimum wage rate, called the National Living Wage, which all employers in the UK are required to pay to those aged 25 and over.
The Home Office is compliant with April 2018 National Living Wage of £7.83 and pays this regardless of age. The Living Wage Foundation (LWF) is an initiative by Citizens UK which advocates employers paying an alternative hourly rate known as the Living Wage or London Living Wage. The current Living Wage is £8.75 and London Living Wage is £10.20. Currently there are 6 directly employed staff being paid marginally below the Living Wage Foundation rate.
All temporary agency staff are employed in accordance with the Agency Workers Regulations which ensures parity with directly employed staff after 12 weeks. Starting pay rates comply with the requirements of the current Government Living Wage legislation; this is a contractual obligation on the supplier and is monitored through contract compliance mechanisms.
The Home Office only requires its outsourced contractors to comply with the legal minimum standards of pay of their staff as set out in the Government National Living Wage legislation; again, this is a contractual obligation on the supplier and is monitored through contract compliance mechanisms and annually through our supplier assurance programme. The Home Office does not, however, require outsourced contractors to pay the Living Wage Foundation rates.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many local authorities applied for the modern slavery pilot scheme; and how were successful applicants selected.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
As part of NRM reform, Home Office Ministers committed to testing ‘transition pathways’ with local authorities to identifying best practice in supporting victims to move out of central government-funded support and into local communities.
Nine local authorities applied to be part of this testing process and applications were assessed based on whether their proposals aligned with the aims of the project. For example, whether the proposals related to support for victims at the end of the NRM process, and whether they would provide opportunity to test the role of local authorities and their partners in supporting victims to transition out of NRM care.