Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the average length of time for a victim of modern slavery to wait for a decision following an application for discretionary leave to remain in the calendar years 2016 and 2017.

All applications for discretionary leave made by victims of modern slavery are considered on a case by case basis and processing times vary with complexity of individual circumstance.

The Home Office does not publish data on the processing times for such applications. As part of the ongoing reform of the National Referral Mechanism, changes will be made to ensure a quicker, more certain decision making process that victims have confidence in and which may include customer service standards.