Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the reasons for the increase in modern slavery referrals for children during the first three months of the covid-19 outbreak.

The Home Office published the Q2 2020 NRM statistics in September. This data shows a small increase in the number of victims exploited as a child referred into the NRM (1231 to 1274 referrals).

The data tables, which are published alongside the statistical bulletin, break down child referrals by a number of different characteristics which show that children exploited in the UK appear to be driving the increase in referrals. Newly published data in the same publication also shows a rise in county lines flagged cases.