Source · Select Committees · Home Affairs Committee
Recommendation 61
61
Deferred
Paragraph: 191
Extensive National Referral Mechanism Conclusive Grounds decision time is unacceptable and detrimental
Conclusion
The extensive time taken for Conclusive Grounds decision-making within the National Referral Mechanism is unacceptable. Lengthy decision-making is detrimental to victims’ mental health and wellbeing and puts significant pressure on the services that support them during this time.
Government response summary AI-generated
The government response discusses the Section 45 defence of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, which does not address the conclusion about the extensive and detrimental time taken for Conclusive Grounds decision-making within the National Referral Mechanism.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Paragraph Reference:
191
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government · verbatim extract
Deferred
To reduce the average decision making time, we have significantly increased our workforce, including through a major recruitment exercise to further boost decision-maker numbers by around 200 staff. We have increased productivity and improved performance through new initiatives including mainstreaming best practice. Teams where this approach was piloted last year saw significant productivity increases of 40%, more cases being allocated to decision-makers, and time taken to work on a case dropping by 30 days on average. This is now being rolled out across the commands.
Read the full response on Parliament ↗