Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to prevent abuse of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 by foreign national offenders using the provisions of the Act to delay proceedings against them or to stay their removal from the UK.

The Government is clear in its commitment to identifying, protecting, and supporting genuine victims of modern slavery whilst prosecuting criminals.

The Modern Slavery Act 2015, and subsequent legislation such as the Nationality and Borders Act 2022, and Illegal Migration Act 2023, make it harder for people to game the modern slavery system. Measures in our modern slavery legislation strike the right balance and still enable us to protect genuine victims of trafficking.

The Nationality and Borders Act 2022 introduced the Public Order Disqualification, which means that foreign national offenders can be removed from the protections of the NRM where they pose a threat to public order.

The Illegal Migration Act 2023 furthered these measures, toughening the measures introduced in the Nationality and Borders Act 2022.

Additionally, where a foreign national offender has entered the United Kingdom illegally, and therefore presents a threat to public order, they will be disqualified from access to a recovery period and modern slavery specific support, unless they qualify for limited exceptions.