Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many working-age people are on the Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract through the National Referral Mechanism.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
This dataset only covers small boat arrivals and does not include other methods of entry. The published figures currently cover arrivals up to the end of September 2025.
The Home Office does not publish age-related statistics for individuals supported under the Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract (MSVCC).
Asked by: Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative - Chingford and Woodford Green)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment the factors that can prevent adults with positive reasonable grounds decisions from entering support through the Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract; and what steps her Department is taking to ensure all those eligible for support can receive it.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Government is committed to identifying and supporting victims of modern slavery, to assist with their recovery needs and help them begin rebuilding their lives.
All adult potential victims who receive a positive reasonable grounds decision can access support through the Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract (MSVCC), subject to their consent which can be given at the time of the NRM referral, or when transitioning from child to adult support structures.
Where consent is provided, The Salvation Army (TSA) will attempt to contact the victim on multiple occasions, at different times of day, and may use legal representatives or first responders to confirm contact details if necessary.
If contact has not been made within 48 hours, the victim or their legal representative can contact TSA directly to arrange entry into support.
Home Office do not currently publish data on numbers of potential victims who choose not to consent to MSVCC support.
For potential victims transitioning from child to adult support structures, we are also developing information packs for victims and the professionals who support them, which aim to enhance understanding of the consent process and adult support offer to improve informed decision making on accessing support.
Asked by: Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative - Chingford and Woodford Green)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department has taken to ensure adults with a positive Reasonable Grounds decision can enter support through the Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract; how many attempts are made to contact a person; and what happens if the person cannot be contacted.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Government is committed to identifying and supporting victims of modern slavery, to assist with their recovery needs and help them begin rebuilding their lives.
All adult potential victims who receive a positive reasonable grounds decision can access support through the Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract (MSVCC), subject to their consent which can be given at the time of the NRM referral, or when transitioning from child to adult support structures.
Where consent is provided, The Salvation Army (TSA) will attempt to contact the victim on multiple occasions, at different times of day, and may use legal representatives or first responders to confirm contact details if necessary.
If contact has not been made within 48 hours, the victim or their legal representative can contact TSA directly to arrange entry into support.
Home Office do not currently publish data on numbers of potential victims who choose not to consent to MSVCC support.
For potential victims transitioning from child to adult support structures, we are also developing information packs for victims and the professionals who support them, which aim to enhance understanding of the consent process and adult support offer to improve informed decision making on accessing support.
Asked by: Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative - Chingford and Woodford Green)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of the steps taken to ensure that adults who receive positive reasonable grounds decisions can enter support through the Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Government is committed to identifying and supporting victims of modern slavery, to assist with their recovery needs and help them begin rebuilding their lives.
All adult potential victims who receive a positive reasonable grounds decision can access support through the Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract (MSVCC), subject to their consent which can be given at the time of the NRM referral, or when transitioning from child to adult support structures.
Where consent is provided, The Salvation Army (TSA) will attempt to contact the victim on multiple occasions, at different times of day, and may use legal representatives or first responders to confirm contact details if necessary.
If contact has not been made within 48 hours, the victim or their legal representative can contact TSA directly to arrange entry into support.
Home Office do not currently publish data on numbers of potential victims who choose not to consent to MSVCC support.
For potential victims transitioning from child to adult support structures, we are also developing information packs for victims and the professionals who support them, which aim to enhance understanding of the consent process and adult support offer to improve informed decision making on accessing support.
Asked by: Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative - Chingford and Woodford Green)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many adults with a positive Reasonable Grounds decision do not go on to enter support through the Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Government is committed to identifying and supporting victims of modern slavery, to assist with their recovery needs and help them begin rebuilding their lives.
All adult potential victims who receive a positive reasonable grounds decision can access support through the Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract (MSVCC), subject to their consent which can be given at the time of the NRM referral, or when transitioning from child to adult support structures.
Where consent is provided, The Salvation Army (TSA) will attempt to contact the victim on multiple occasions, at different times of day, and may use legal representatives or first responders to confirm contact details if necessary.
If contact has not been made within 48 hours, the victim or their legal representative can contact TSA directly to arrange entry into support.
Home Office do not currently publish data on numbers of potential victims who choose not to consent to MSVCC support.
For potential victims transitioning from child to adult support structures, we are also developing information packs for victims and the professionals who support them, which aim to enhance understanding of the consent process and adult support offer to improve informed decision making on accessing support.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the support services available to victims of modern slavery; and what steps her Department is taking to ensure these services are (a) accessible and (b) fit for purpose.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The UK Government is committed to tackling all forms of modern slavery, holding perpetrators to account, and ensuring that victims are supported to recover and rebuild their lives.
Long-term reform will focus on driving up prosecutions and convictions and ensuring tailored and holistic support is available for victims.
The Government is taking a range of measures to tackle modern slavery and support victims including, but not limited to:
· In England and Wales, the Government provides victims in the National Referral Mechanism with significant support through the Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract (MSVCC). The Care Quality Commission provides an independent inspection regime to ensure that MSVCC support services are delivered to an appropriate standard.
· In Spring 2025 the Government intends to launch an exercise to procure the next victim support contract called the Support for Victims of Modern Slavery service. The Service will deliver a needs-based model that introduces key improvements to support provision directly as a result of survivor and wider stakeholder engagement.
· In addition to the statutory support local authorities provide for children who are potential child victims of modern slavery, the Government has rolled out the Independent Child Trafficking Guardian (ICTG) service to two thirds of local authorities in England and Wales. An ICTG's role is to provide an additional source of advice and support for potential child victims of modern slavery (regardless of nationality or immigration status). Since the ICTG service was first piloted in 2017, multiple evaluations have taken place. These evaluations and recommendations have been used to assess the service and to inform its future direction. The latest evaluation was published in May 2024 and can be accessed here: Independent Child Trafficking Guardian (ICTG) MSA evaluation - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)[NC1]
With regards to our engagement with law enforcement and supply chains:
· The Government is determined to increase the prosecution of modern slavery offenders. The Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls met with criminal justice system partners during Anti-Slavery Week to discuss the barriers that prevent prosecutions. The Government is committed to continue working with them to address those barriers and understand what more can be done to support investigations and increase prosecutions.
· The Home Office has provided over £19m of dedicated funding, including £1.26m in 2024/25, to the Modern Slavery and Organised Immigration Crime Unit since 2016, to help to improve the police's ability to identify victims and to investigate and prosecute the perpetrators. The unit has developed bespoke capabilities, including producing tailored training and guidance that is accessible to all police officers.
· The Government is in the process of establishing the Fair Work Agency, which will act as the principal body responsible for ensuring compliance with labour rights and standards across all sectors.
· The Home Office is also working with a wide group of stakeholders to update the Transparency in Supply Chains statutory guidance. This will further support businesses to produce high quality statements, which are underpinned by effective measures to prevent and effectively respond to instances of modern slavery in supply chains.
Internationally, we remain committed to working with partners to jointly tackle modern slavery as a global issue. The UK has close relationships with the Albanian, Vietnamese, and Romanian Governments to address shared priorities on modern slavery. Partnerships with these countries cover initiatives to prevent modern slavery, improve law enforcement cooperation, and support effective reintegration of victims.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has held recent discussions with the providers of the modern slavery victim care contract on the re-procurement process for that contract.
Answered by Sarah Dines
We are working with a cross-departmental team to assess potential contract and policy options for a new model of modern slavery victim support for adults to replace that currently met through the Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract (MSVCC) in England And Wales ending in June 2025. This new contracted service for victims of modern slavery will be offered for competitive tender.
We are planning both market and policy engagement events to gain input from a wide range of external stakeholders, with an initial early market supplier event held on 20 February 2023. This event included a range of potential suppliers who were notified via the publication of an early market engagement notice. The attendees included the incumbent supplier, and several of their supply chain partners.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential effectiveness of the Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract and its support for victims of modern slavery.
Answered by Sarah Dines
We are working with a cross-departmental team to assess potential contract and policy options for a new model of modern slavery victim support for adults to replace that currently met through the Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract (MSVCC) in England And Wales ending in June 2025. This new contracted service for victims of modern slavery will be offered for competitive tender.
We are planning both market and policy engagement events to gain input from a wide range of external stakeholders, with an initial early market supplier event held on 20 February 2023. This event included a range of potential suppliers who were notified via the publication of an early market engagement notice. The attendees included the incumbent supplier, and several of their supply chain partners.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her Department’s planned timescale is for the re-procurement of the Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract.
Answered by Sarah Dines
We are working with a cross-departmental team to assess potential contract and policy options for a new model of modern slavery victim support for adults to replace that currently met through the Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract (MSVCC) in England And Wales ending in June 2025. This new contracted service for victims of modern slavery will be offered for competitive tender.
We are planning both market and policy engagement events to gain input from a wide range of external stakeholders, with an initial early market supplier event held on 20 February 2023. This event included a range of potential suppliers who were notified via the publication of an early market engagement notice. The attendees included the incumbent supplier, and several of their supply chain partners.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her Department's estimated timeline is for the re-procurement of the Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract to the providers which issue support for victims of modern slavery.
Answered by Sarah Dines
We are working with a cross-departmental team to assess potential contract and policy options for a new model of modern slavery victim support for adults to replace that currently met through the Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract (MSVCC) in England And Wales ending in June 2025. This new contracted service for victims of modern slavery will be offered for competitive tender.
We are planning both market and policy engagement events to gain input from a wide range of external stakeholders, with an initial early market supplier event held on 20 February 2023. This event included a range of potential suppliers who were notified via the publication of an early market engagement notice. The attendees included the incumbent supplier, and several of their supply chain partners.