Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people were referred into the National Referral Mechanism broken down by age, sex, and primary exploitation type for the latest quarter for which data is available.

Modern slavery is a vicious crime that dehumanises people for profit. The Government is committed to tackling it in all its forms and to giving survivors the support and certainty they need to recover.

The Government is continually looking to improve the quality and provision of modern slavery statistics. The Home Office publishes quarterly and annual National Referral Mechanism (NRM) statistics. All relevant information can be obtained from the published statistical releases, available here: National Referral Mechanism statistics - GOV.UK. Further disaggregated data is published via the UK Data Service and can be accessed here UK Data Service.

The Home Office does not collect data on police investigations following an NRM referral or disaggregated data on arrests or convictions for human trafficking or sexual exploitation alongside an individual’s nationality or immigration status.

Whatever form it takes, exploitation, human trafficking, and modern slavery is abuse, and relevant child protection procedures must be followed if there is any suspicion a child may be at risk.

Child victims do not need to provide consent to enter the NRM. If a statutory First Responder Organisation encounters a child they suspect to be a victim, they must refer them into the NRM in line with their statutory duties and to the relevant local authority in line with child protection procedures. All NRM referrals are additionally referred to the police.

The UK is committed to working with international partners to prevent exploitation both domestically and abroad. We continue to fund programmes in priority countries to directly combat modern slavery in the UK and work closely with international partners to ensure we meet our international obligations to support victims.

As the Home Secretary has previously said, we advise that any evidence of trafficking of girls overseas is brought to the attention of the police.