Source · Select Committees · Home Affairs Committee
Recommendation 71
71
Deferred
Paragraph: 209
Review funding for First Responder Organisations, considering support for delayed NRM decisions.
Recommendation
We recommend the Home Office reviews, together with current First Responder Organisations, the funding for such organisations. This review should consider specifically the case for the Home Office providing further funding to First Responder Organisations supporting victims waiting on National Referral Mechanism decisions that are extensively delayed.
Government Response Summary
The government did not commit to reviewing funding for First Responder Organisations. Instead, it focused on its ongoing efforts to improve NRM decision-making timescales and reduce outstanding decisions, citing an unprecedented increase in referrals.
Paragraph Reference:
209
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.