Select committee: Home Affairs Committee
Conclusion 68
First Report - Human trafficking
Published 8 Dec 2023
Paragraph 206
Addressed to Home Office
Home Affairs Committee Human Trafficking All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
A myriad of challenges within the National Referral Mechanism system are overwhelming First Responders’ already limited capacity to identify and support potential victims of human trafficking. However, the Home Office is not presently accepting applications for more First Responder Organisations, nor improving the resources which existing First Responders have in order to overcome capacity issues. Furthermore, statutory First Responders lack training on their legal responsibilities when encountering a potential victim of human trafficking.
From: Home Affairs Committee, First Report - Human trafficking (HC 124), paragraph 206, 8 December 2023
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 22 February 2024 (deadline 8 February 2024).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government says it remains "committed to tackling the crime of modern slavery" and responds to each recommendation, accepting some points and declining others with stated reasons.
- On strategy and reporting, the government says it "will resume publication of an Annual Report on Modern Slavery" this year and "will also consider delivering a new modern slavery strategy".
- It does not accept the recommendation on a statutory definition of child criminal exploitation, saying it does "not believe a statutory definition is required" to ensure victims are supported.
- On the 12 months' support commitment for confirmed victims, it concluded that the existing needs-based approach ensures support is available "for the necessary length of time, including if this is 12 months, or longer".
- On Independent Child Trafficking Guardians, it remains committed to national rollout, which is "still subject to approval of business cases and funding arrangements", and says it will publish evaluations of the ICTG programme and devolved decision-making pilot.