Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the impact of negative conclusive grounds decisions under the National Referral Mechanism on vulnerable individuals.

Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

From January 2020 to September 2024, there were 70,790 referrals into the National Referral Mechanism (NRM). These have seen a continued increase.

In the same period, there were 51,850 positive reasonable grounds decisions made, and 34,254 conclusive grounds decisions made. Of which 24,233 were positive and 10,021 were negative. These statistics may change as new information becomes available, or if decisions are reconsidered.

With regards to the impact of recent legislation, the Illegal Migration Act 2023 has not been commenced in full, and the Government has made clear that the migration partnership with Rwanda will end. Any legislative plans resulting from this decision will be set out in due course.

This Government has been clear that identifying and supporting victims effectively is a key priority – that is why we have invested in 200 new decision makers to clear the backlog of cases and reduce wait times for victims.

The Home Office publishes modern slavery statistics on a quarterly basis and holds all policies and procedures under review to ensure they are effective in delivering the aims of the Government. As part of our New Plan for Immigration, we will take forward an evaluation workstream to understand the impact being achieved.