Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many National Referral Mechanism decisions made by (a) the Human Trafficking Centre and (b) UK Visas and Immigration were subject to judicial review proceedings in (i) 2012 and (ii) 2013; and how many such decisions were changed as a result of successful judicial review proceedings.

UK Visas and Immigration received 11 judicial review proceedings in 2012, and 7 in 2013. We have not validated how many decisions were changed as a result of successful judicial review proceedings, as the cost for finding out this information would be disproportionate.

Both UKHTC and UKVI apply the same civil standard of proof in making their decisions, but the types of cases dealt with by UKHTC and UKVI are very different. UKHTC often deals with EEA nationals encountered in their place of exploitation with substantial contemporary evidence to support their decision making. UKVI often deals with non-EEA nationals where the alleged trafficking and exploitation took place some time ago, sometimes in another country.