Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many victims of human trafficking with a positive (1) reasonable, and (2) conclusive, grounds decision are currently held in immigration detention.

The Home Office does record the number of all individuals referred to the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) this information is published quarterly and can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-referral-mechanism-statistics-quarter-3-2019-july-to-september

This information does not distinguish between those detained under immigration powers and those living in the community. The reason for this is two-fold, firstly because the NRM referral is not an immigration route by which individuals should regularise their stay in the United Kingdom and secondly, because a person’s status in immigration detention is not permanent and can change.

The use of immigration detention in all cases is subject to regular reviews and consequently, a change in circumstance may result in a different consideration. It is quite possible that an immigration detainee is referred to the National Referral Mechanism during a detention period and is re-leased into the community at any point during that process.

As National Referral Mechanism (NRM) referrals, Reasonable Grounds and Conclusive Grounds decisions are considered separately from immigration enforcement action, there is no central record of those who have received a positive (1) reasonable, and (2) conclusive, grounds decision and are detained under immigration powers. The Home Office therefore does not collate or publish the data requested.

Published data on the number individuals held in immigration detention can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-year-ending-december-2018/how-many-people-are-detained-or-returned