Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 23 January 2019 to Question 211929, what steps his Department is taking to contact people affected who will have received a final stage National Referral Mechanism conclusive grounds decision and whose support will have ended.

Government is making every effort to pay back everyone affected by the contract changes in March 2018. We recognise that some individuals will have left government funded services and integrated into communities in the UK and overseas and so may be harder for government to contact than others that are still in support services.

On 24 January 2019, personalised letters were sent out to all those we identified as being affected and eligible for repayments. For those still in support, the letters detailed how much and how they will be paid. For those who have left support, the letters explained how to apply for these payments.

If an individual believes they are eligible but did not receive a letter, they can complete an application form on gov.uk. There is no closing date for when people can apply for back payments if they think they are eligible. Further information is available on gov.uk (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-a-subsistence-rates-back-payment-victims-of-modern-slavery).

We are working with stakeholders to raise awareness of the gov.uk page and the letters that were sent out to those identified.