Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment of need and risk informs the offer of safe house accommodation to someone in the National Referral Mechanism for identifying victims of trafficking; and how such assessments are conducted.

All adults referred in to the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) are eligible to receive support through the Victim Care Contract to assist with recovery from their modern slavery experience(s).

The type of support received is tailored, at each stage, according to the potential victim or confirmed victim’s needs. Support provision may include any combination of subsistence payments, support worker contact and assistance, and accommodation provision.

Upon referral for support, The Salvation Army (who are the Prime Contractor in delivery of Victim Care Contract Services) will undertake an initial needs assessment with the potential victim, usually over the telephone. This brief assessment, alongside the information provided within the NRM referral form, is used to establish immediate priorities for accommodation support provision. Considerations such as the individual’s health and wellbeing, any current risk that the individual faces from their exploiters, their current accommodation provision (if any) and their eligibility to access other support services are all taken into account at this early stage. Accommodation may be offered at this stage if an individual would otherwise be destitute or will be made destitute within two weeks of the referral, or if an individual is unable to otherwise access safe and secure accommodation.

Upon receipt of a positive Reasonable Grounds decision, The Salvation Army will conduct a more detailed needs assessment to inform the provision of continued or further support, if any is required, within the Victim Care Contract, taking into account their eligibility to access services outside of the VCC. Throughout an individual’s time in Victim Care Contract Support, their needs will be continually considered by their support worker to inform provision of services. The final consideration of an individual’s needs related to their modern slavery experience will take place following receipt of a positive Conclusive Grounds decision, in the form of a Recovery Needs Assessment.