Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government why they created the Immigration Enforcement Competent Authority on 8 November; what were the reasons for the timetable for its creation; and what plans they have to monitor its activity to ensure there are no inconsistencies in decision making based on immigration status.

The Immigration Enforcement Competent Authority (IECA) will streamline decision-making and ensure, wherever possible, that the various factors which may be pertinent to decisions about an individual are taken by those who can consider their circumstances most fully.  IECA decision makers will receive the same training as the Single Competent Authority (SCA) on National Referral Mechanism (NRM) decision making.

Both competent authorities will be held to account through existing quality assurance processes and the Multi-Agency Assurance Panels will continue to quality assure all negative conclusive decisions. Decisions will continue to be made in line with the definitions and standards of proof in the published Modern Slavery Statutory Guidance.

The data on decisions taken by the IECA will be set out in the quarterly publication of NRM statistics and a breakdown by competent authority will be published once there is sufficient data to ensure individuals are not identifiable. Naturally, we will regularly review this data to understand the impact of the change and ensure polices are being applied consistently.

This Government remains committed to identifying victims quickly, enhancing the support they receive and improving the training given to First Responders, who are responsible for referring potential victims into the NRM.

The Home Office has produced e-learning to help First Responders to identify potential victims of modern slavery and make referrals into the NRM when appropriate to do so. The e-learning is available through the Modern Slavery Organised Immigration Crime (MSOIC) website.