Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that minors trafficked to the UK are able to receive (a) welfare and (b) protection for as long as they require.

The Government views the slavery, including trafficking, of children as a very serious offence. Where children are found to be victims of modern slavery their safety and welfare needs must be addressed as the priority.

Local authorities have a duty to safeguard all children in their care, regardless of their backgrounds or experiences including children within the National Referral Mechanism. It is the responsibility of the local authorities to make decisions about the placement and welfare of children in their care, this includes assessing the risks to that child, such as trafficking, and how best to safeguard them.

In addition to the care and support local authorities provide children in their with, the Government announced in October 2017 that it would commence section 48 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and committed to the full national roll out of Independent Child Trafficking Advocates (ICTAs) across England and Wales. Acting in the child’s best interests, ICTAs will provide independent advice and guidance to the child and will be independent of those authorities responsible for making decisions about the child. We introduced ICTAs in three early-adopter sites (Greater Manchester, Hampshire and nationally in Wales) on the 30^th January 2017.