Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 14 March to Question 158881 on Slavery, what the outcome was of her consideration towards an alternative process that can provide appropriate assurance and drive further improvements to National Referral Mechanism decision making for identifying potential victims of modern slavery; and if she will make a statement.

All negative reasonable grounds and conclusive grounds decisions in the National Referral Mechanism undergo a second pair of eyes review by a second caseworker or manager as part of the decision making process. Data on the time taken and proportion of negative decisions upheld following such a review are not routinely recorded. All negative decisions that are issued have been upheld by the second pair of eyes.

Prior to December 2022 Multi-Agency Assurance Panels (MAAPs) reviewed negative conclusive grounds decisions in an advisory capacity prior to the decision being issued. Following the review by MAAPs, the MAAP feedback report was returned to the Competent Authority. Data regarding the proportion of negative conclusive grounds decisions upheld under this process, and the time taken to do so, is not published.

The design of the MAAP process contributed to the number of days being added to decision-making timelines and were removed due to increasing pressure on the timeliness of NRM decision-making. Consideration continues to be given to the scope and process of any possible alternative assurance process that will not contribute to decision making timescales.