Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the national referral mechanism.

The Government is committed to providing victims of modern slavery with the support they need by ensuring the effectiveness of the National Referral Mechanism (NRM). The NRM - our system for identifying and supporting victims of modern slavery - operates as a bridge; it lifts someone out of a situation of exploitation, provides them with a period of intensive support, and then puts them on the road to recovery.

In October 2017, the Government announced an ambitious package of reforms to the NRM, which were developed following extensive stakeholder consultation. These reforms focus on ensuring the NRM is effective in delivering what victims want: quicker and more certain decision-making that stakeholders and victims have confidence in; improved support for adult victims before, during and after the NRM; improved identification of victims; and improved support to child victims of modern slavery. More information on the NRM reform is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-referral-mechanism-reform/national-referral-mechanism-reform

The Government continues to cooperate with stakeholders as the reforms are being implemented to ensure that the NRM is effective in identifying and supporting victims of modern slavery.