Human Trafficking: Children

(asked on 4th February 2019) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to (a) ensure that social workers are adequately trained to respond to cases of trafficked children that subsequently go missing and (b) improve the recording and reporting practices by local authorities on trafficked children.


Answered by
Nadhim Zahawi Portrait
Nadhim Zahawi
This question was answered on 7th February 2019

On 1 November 2017, the government published revised and expanded statutory guidance for local authorities on the care of unaccompanied migrant children and child victims of modern slavery, which sets out the training and awareness requirements for all those involved in the care of these vulnerable children. This guidance is available to social workers along with the statutory guidance on children who go missing from care, and practice guidance on children who may have been trafficked. Local authorities are best placed to then ensure that social workers receive the training they need to meet the needs of children locally.

The Modern Slavery Act 2015 introduced a duty to local authorities to refer all child victims of trafficking or modern slavery into the National Referral Mechanism (NRM), the UK’s system for identify and supporting victims. A referral into this system enables accurate recording and reporting by the Home Office on a quarterly basis. As part of NRM reform the government is conducting a review of how first responders should be trained. This will include understanding how to support all first responders in making these referrals which will support improved recording and reporting.

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