Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of its policies on tackling modern slavery.

The UK Government is committed to tackling all forms of modern slavery, holding perpetrators to account, and ensuring that victims are supported to recover and rebuild their lives.

Long-term reform will focus on driving up prosecutions and convictions and ensuring tailored and holistic support is available for victims.

The Government is taking a range of measures to tackle modern slavery and support victims including, but not limited to:

· In England and Wales, the Government provides victims in the National Referral Mechanism with significant support through the Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract (MSVCC). The Care Quality Commission provides an independent inspection regime to ensure that MSVCC support services are delivered to an appropriate standard.

· In Spring 2025 the Government intends to launch an exercise to procure the next victim support contract called the Support for Victims of Modern Slavery service. The Service will deliver a needs-based model that introduces key improvements to support provision directly as a result of survivor and wider stakeholder engagement.

· In addition to the statutory support local authorities provide for children who are potential child victims of modern slavery, the Government has rolled out the Independent Child Trafficking Guardian (ICTG) service to two thirds of local authorities in England and Wales. An ICTG's role is to provide an additional source of advice and support for potential child victims of modern slavery (regardless of nationality or immigration status). Since the ICTG service was first piloted in 2017, multiple evaluations have taken place. These evaluations and recommendations have been used to assess the service and to inform its future direction. The latest evaluation was published in May 2024 and can be accessed here: Independent Child Trafficking Guardian (ICTG) MSA evaluation - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)[NC1]

With regards to our engagement with law enforcement and supply chains:

· The Government is determined to increase the prosecution of modern slavery offenders. The Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls met with criminal justice system partners during Anti-Slavery Week to discuss the barriers that prevent prosecutions. The Government is committed to continue working with them to address those barriers and understand what more can be done to support investigations and increase prosecutions.

· The Home Office has provided over £19m of dedicated funding, including £1.26m in 2024/25, to the Modern Slavery and Organised Immigration Crime Unit since 2016, to help to improve the police's ability to identify victims and to investigate and prosecute the perpetrators. The unit has developed bespoke capabilities, including producing tailored training and guidance that is accessible to all police officers.

· The Government is in the process of establishing the Fair Work Agency, which will act as the principal body responsible for ensuring compliance with labour rights and standards across all sectors.

· The Home Office is also working with a wide group of stakeholders to update the Transparency in Supply Chains statutory guidance. This will further support businesses to produce high quality statements, which are underpinned by effective measures to prevent and effectively respond to instances of modern slavery in supply chains.

Internationally, we remain committed to working with partners to jointly tackle modern slavery as a global issue. The UK has close relationships with the Albanian, Vietnamese, and Romanian Governments to address shared priorities on modern slavery. Partnerships with these countries cover initiatives to prevent modern slavery, improve law enforcement cooperation, and support effective reintegration of victims.