Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of sections 22-29 of the Illegal Migration Act 2023 on victims of modern slavery receiving support via the National Referral Mechanism.

The Home Office published the Illegal Migration Bill (IMB) Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) on 10 May 2023. We are committed to taking the steps to ensure any potential impacts identified are appropriately mitigated when implementing the policy.

Where an individual has not made a protection claim and is granted immigration bail, support may be available under Schedule 10 of the Immigration Act 2016.

The Government is consulting with operational partners to implement sections 22 – 29 of the IMA. Guidance is under development which will support the operation of provisions in the IMA, once commenced.