Slavery: Victims

(asked on 3rd July 2020) - View Source

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what emergency support has been made available to survivors of modern slavery since the freezing of payment cards by the Financial Conduct Authority on 26 June 2020; what guidance her Department has issued to those people on access to emergency funding; and how many people have accessed additional support since 26 June 2020.


Answered by
Victoria Atkins Portrait
Victoria Atkins
Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
This question was answered on 9th July 2020

Due to issues relating to the card provider, on 26 June 2020 potential and confirmed victims of modern slavery with access to a payment card through the Adult Victims of Modern Slavery (AVMS) support contract were informed the payment cards were frozen and advised to contact their dedicated support worker if they needed emergency cash payments.

All subcontractors of the AVMS support contract were also instructed to assess their service users for those who might have needed urgent payments, so they could be contacted proactively, and provided with support as required.

On 30 June 2020, the freeze on the payment cards was lifted and all service users were able to resume using their payment cards.

Reticulating Splines