Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of victims of modern slavery who were not identified as such by first responders since the beginning of the covid-19 outbreak.

The Government is committed to the safety and security of victims of modern slavery and ensuring they receive the support they need, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The hidden nature of modern slavery makes providing an accurate measure of its scale difficult. From 1 April to 30 September 2020, 4,715 potential victims of modern slavery were referred into the National Referral Mechanism.

Given that victims of modern slavery may be especially isolated as a result of the lockdown measures required to combat the pandemic, the Government published additional guidance on GOV.UK (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-support-for-victims-of-modern-slavery/coronavirus-covid-19-support-for-victims-of-modern-slavery) for First Responder Organisations and frontline staff with information about how to spot the potential signs of modern slavery and refer suspected cases to appropriate services.

We also recognise victims are coming into contact with different services during the pandemic and we have worked to raise awareness of the indicators of modern slavery in these areas to ensure victims continue to be identified and supported.