Source · Select Committees · Home Affairs Committee
Recommendation 70
70
Deferred
Paragraph: 208
Recommence immediately considering applications from specialist organisations to become First Responders.
Conclusion
We strongly recommend that the Home Office recommences immediately considering applications from specialist front line organisations to become a First Responder Organisation.
Government Response Summary
The government's response focuses on improving National Referral Mechanism (NRM) decision-making timescales and managing the unprecedented increase in NRM referrals, stating that outstanding decisions have been decreasing since Q1 2023, without addressing the recommencement of considering First Responder Organisation applications.
Paragraph Reference:
208
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government
Deferred
71. The Government is focussed on improving National Referral Mechanism (NRM) decision-making timescales. The Home Office makes around 3,000 decisions each month for victims of modern slavery, encompassing Reasonable Grounds, Conclusive Grounds, Recovery Need Assessment, Discretionary Leave, Public Order Disqualifications and Reconsideration decisions. We have seen an unprecedented increase in the volume of referrals in the NRM; a 625% rise between 2014 and 2022. This has presented significant challenges in resourcing and workflow. The time taken also reflects the requirement to obtain appropriate levels of evidence, which can be challenging. Despite this, since the first quarter of 2023 the number of decisions outstanding has been coming down for the first time ever, showing that what we are doing is working.