Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what is her Department's target timescale for making a Conclusive Grounds decision in the National Referral Mechanism; and what is the current average wait time for a victim of modern slavery to be given a conclusive grounds decision following a Reasonable Grounds decision.

The Home Office publishes quarterly and annual statistics regarding the National Referral Mechanism (NRM). These include the average time taken to make a Conclusive Grounds Decision. The latest published NRM statistics can be found here:

National Referral Mechanism statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

As outlined in the Modern Slavery: Statutory Guidance for England and Wales (under s49 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015) and Non-Statutory Guidance for Scotland and Northern Ireland, the expectation is that the Competent Authority will make a Reasonable Grounds decision within five working days, where possible, of the NRM referral being received. There is no target to make a Conclusive Grounds decision within a specific timeframe. A decision can only be made fairly and reasonably once sufficient information has been made available to the Competent Authority for it to complete the decision. When the relevant Competent Authority has received sufficient information for it to complete a decision it should seek to do so as soon as possible but only once a minimum Recovery and Reflection Period has passed, unless the relevant Competent Authority has received a request to delay the decision. The Recovery and Reflection period begins when the relevant competent authority makes a positive Reasonable Grounds decision.

Modern Slavery: statutory guidance for England and Wales (under s49 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015) and non-statutory guidance for Scotland and Northern Ireland (accessible version) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).