Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government why they have issued instructions for officials to delay consideration of discretionary leave for victims of trafficking until they consider the Court of Appeal judgment in PK(Ghana) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2018] EWCA Civ 98.

Following the judgment in PK(Ghana) officials were instructed to temporarily defer most decisions on whether to grant discretionary leave to remain to trafficking victims. This was to enable new guidance to be prepared that would take account of the findings of the Court.

Grants of discretionary leave continued to be made if it was found that a grant was necessary to enable a trafficking victim to seek compensation through the courts or to assist the police with a criminal investigation or prosecution. Victims also continued to be granted leave if they qualified for refugee status or under other provisions in the Immigration Rules.

The new guidance was published on 8 August 2018 and normal decision making has therefore resumed. The guidance is available on the GOV.UK web-pages at:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/732594/dl-for-victims-of-modern-slavery-v1.0ext.pdf