Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what support is available to a child that receives a Conclusive Grounds decision in the National Referral Mechanism.

We recognise the needs and vulnerabilities of trafficked children and the importance of providing the appropriate support to address them. All local agencies (including local authorities and the police) have statutory duties to safeguard children as part of their local responsibilities, regardless of their backgrounds or experiences. The revised ‘Care of unaccompanied migrant children and child victims of modern slavery’ statutory guidance for local authorities (2017) sets out the steps that local authorities should take to plan for the provision of support where the child is an unaccompanied asylum seeking child and/or may have been a victim of trafficking or modern slavery.
To further support trafficked children, the Government implemented Independent Child Trafficking Advocates (ICTA) in three Early Adopter Sites (Greater Manchester, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight and nationally in Wales) from 30 January 2017. Children who are the responsibility of local authorities within the Early Adopter Sites are provided with an ICTA when they are initially identified as potentially trafficked. This provision is in addition to the range of existing support available to them through the local authority. The Government has also funded training for foster carers, support workers and Independent Advocates to increase their understanding of the specific needs of trafficked children and how to support them.