Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many confirmed victims of human trafficking have been subsequently re-trafficked after they have left the National Referral Mechanism.

The Government is committed to supporting potential victims of modern slavery to rebuild their lives.

There are a number of practical reasons why the Government is unable to provide an accurate figure for the number of confirmed victims who have been re-trafficked after leaving the National Referral Mechanism. For example, some victims may not wish to maintain contact when they leave the National Referral Mechanism.

We are working with the National Crime Agency to improve our ability to identify potential re-trafficking cases. Our reforms to introduce a new digital referral process and to provide access to ‘drop-in’ services for 6 months after confirmed victims have left Government-funded support will also improve our ability to identify re-trafficking for this cohort of victims.