Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average length of time is for his Department to establish that an applicant for asylum has been a victim of trafficking.

The Home Office is committed to ensuring that victims of trafficking are identified effectively.

Potential victims are provided with a minimum of 45 days recovery and reflection following identification during which time they have access to support and accommodation depending on their individual requirements. In order to make a decision on their trafficking case, information is requested from a variety of sources. When sufficient information has been gathered it is carefully considered and a Conclusive Grounds decision made.

The support provided to a Potential Victim continues until the Conclusive Grounds decision on victim status is made. The decision of whether an individual has been trafficked is considered separately to an application for asylum.