Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether people in the National Referral Mechanism in receipt of Victim Care Contract support will continue to receive that support during covid-19 lockdown restrictions.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic the safety and security of potential and confirmed victims of modern slavery has been our priority. We have continued to work closely with the Prime Contractor for the Victim Care Contract (VCC), The Salvation Army, to ensure individuals get the support they need and we can continue to take new referrals.

There remains flexibility in the VCC to address the impacts of COVID-19 restrictions through existing policies, such as the extension request mechanism and Recovery Needs Assessments (RNAs). A minimum of 45 calendar days of VCC ‘move-on’ support will be maintained for confirmed victims following their receipt of a positive Conclusive Grounds (CG) decision and support is then tailored based on the recovery needs of the victims. The extension request process remains in place for individuals in receipt of a negative CG decision who require longer to exit support.

Support workers will continue to consider the capacity of local services when planning move-on after a positive or negative Conclusive Grounds decision and will not facilitate move-on unless it is safe and appropriate to do so. RNA decision-making by the Single Competent Authority will also take account of these factors.