Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the modern slavery strategy.

Modern slavery is a scourge that traumatises and dehumanises its victims.

I recognise that the current strategy was published a decade ago. Since its publication, referral numbers into the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) and the volume of victims supported have changed dramatically.

For instance, the number of NRM referrals has increased by 611% since the last quarter of 2014 and the average (median) time taken from referral to conclusive grounds decisions from January to March 2024 across the competent authorities was 491 days.

British nationals were the most commonly referred nationality to the NRM from January to March 2024, accounting for 24% (1,105) of all referrals received. Since 2014, the number of British referrals has consistently increased; their number from January to March 2024 was almost 40 times greater than their number from January to March 2014 (28).

I will update on future policies in due course and am committed to taking an approach that puts victims first.