Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, following reports in the Sunday Times on 26 January about the support that forced labour victims received from victim navigators at the charity Justice and Care, what steps they are taking to implement the recommendation of the  Modern Slavery Act 2015 Committee Report, The Modern Slavery Act 2015: becoming world-leading again, that "Victim navigators should be rolled out nationally".

The Government recognises the importance of supporting victims to engage with the criminal justice system and the positive impact an independent support worker, working alongside law enforcement, can have on securing this engagement.

The Minister for Safeguarding and Violence and Woman and Girls has met with the non-governmental organisation delivering the Victim Navigator Programme to better understand the impact of the programme to inform considerations of how we best support victims.

In addition, all consenting adult potential and confirmed victims of modern slavery in the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) in England and Wales, can access specialist need-based support via the Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract. In the current Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract support workers are required to signpost and facilitate survivor access to legal advice service, including support by non-governmental organisations, ensuring access to qualified advisors.