Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty's Government in what proportion of cases in the youth court in which a defendant is charged with supply of drugs or possession with intent to supply has the statutory defence of modern slavery, under section 45 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, been used.

The Ministry of Justice does not hold data on the use of the defence in section 45 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015. Neither does Crown Prosecution Service data capture such information.

The Home Office is responsible for the National Referral Mechanism. Referrals are made by designated First Responders which do not include a court. In practice an NRM referral made during court proceedings where the defendant relies on the section 45 defence would be made by the police or another First Responder.

Data on NRM referrals made during court proceedings is not collated centrally and could only be provided, through examination of individual NRM referrals and court transcripts, at disproportionate cost.