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1304404

registered interest
date	19/03/2021
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Human Trafficking: Children
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to ensure that police forces in England and Wales can collaborate with EU counterparts on missing children and trafficking investigations when a child has been trafficked from the UK to Europe.
tabling member printed	Baroness Doocey
uin	HL14407
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/04/2021 answer text <p>Tackling modern slavery, including child trafficking, is a priority for this Government and we are committed to continuing to work closely with EU partners to address this heinous crime.</p><p>The UK/EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) delivers a comprehensive package of capabilities that ensures we can work with counterparts across Europe to tackle serious crime. This includes enabling our law enforcement agencies to continue to share information on investigations, including those related to child trafficking, with EU counterparts.</p> answering member printed Baroness Williams of Trafford question first answered 06/04/2021 15:45:49 answering member 4311 label Biography information for Baroness Williams of Trafford
tabling member	4197 label Biography information for Baroness Doocey

1289360

registered interest
date	24/02/2021
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Human Trafficking: Children
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to amend the Modern Slavery Act 2015 (1) to reflect, and (2) to combat, increases in reports of the number of potential human trafficking cases involving children.
tabling member printed	Baroness Doocey
uin	HL13663
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/03/2021 answer text <p>The Government is committed to tackling modern slavery including cases involving child trafficking and sexual exploitation. The Modern Slavery Act 2015, gives law enforcement agencies the tools to tackle modern slavery, including maximum life sentences for perpetrators and enhanced protection for victims. In July 2018, the Government commissioned an Independent Review of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 to identify what can be improved in the implementation of the Act. The Government’s response to this review can be found here:</p><p>https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/government-response-to-the-independent-review-of-the-modern-slavery-act</p><p>We are committed to strengthening the law enforcement response to modern slavery and in 2020/21 we allocated over £2 million funding to the police to support the Modern Slavery and Organised Immigration Crime programme. During the pandemic we have also worked closely with law enforcement to monitor any changes in the threat of modern slavery including cases involving trafficked children and sexual exploitation.</p><p>The Home Office continues to work with First Responders to ensure they understand the indicators of different exploitation types and can refer potential victims into appropriate support. In July 2020, we released an E-Learning module available to all First Responders to improve their understanding of their responsibilities and the support available.</p><p>With this greater awareness and improved understanding of modern slavery, more potential victims are being identified and protected. The latest statistics can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-referral-mechanism-statistics. The Home Office is currently addressing an earlier identified error that occurred in the data processing for the Q1-Q3 of 2020 statistics where some sexual exploitation referrals were miscategorised as ‘Not recorded or unknown’. Once this error is rectified, the number of sexual exploitation referrals will be higher than in the current statistical bulletins and the number of ‘not recorded or unknown’ referrals will be lower. The updated data will be released alongside the Quarter 4 (October to December 2020) statistics which are being prepared and will be released on 18 March 2021.</p><p>The Government continues to focus on improving identification and support for potential victims by embarking on an ambitious National Referral Mechanism Transformation Programme to build on our world leading efforts to identify vulnerable victims and provide the support that they need to rebuild their lives. This will ensure that victims are safeguarded and supported based on their individual recovery need, with a focus on supporting the most vulnerable and making good use of existing access to mainstream services. As part of this programme, we are progressing the roll out of the Independent Child Trafficking Guardians service.</p><p>The Government is committed to tackling the drivers that can lead individuals to become potential victims of trafficking. Local authorities are responsible for the safeguarding and promotion of welfare of all children in their area, co-operating closely with police and other statutory agencies to offer child victims required protection and support. In 2020-21, local government received an additional £1 billion grant for adult and children’s social care. This is on top of the continuation of the £410 million social care grant. In addition, we are investing £84 million in targeted, evidence-based interventions to improve the support provided to vulnerable children and their families and enable more children to stay at home thriving in stable family environments. The Government is also strongly committed to supporting victims of sexual exploitation and continues to provide investment in this area, including by allocating £76 million to support victims of modern slavery, sexual violence, and domestic abuse during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Home Office has committed to create a new Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy this year and ran a nationwide Call for Evidence from 10 December to 19 February to gather the views from a wide range of stakeholders to inform this strategy. The strategy will also consider wider work, including on modern slavery and sexual exploitation.</p> answering member printed Baroness Williams of Trafford grouped question UIN HL13660 HL13662 question first answered 10/03/2021 17:20:47 answering member 4311 label Biography information for Baroness Williams of Trafford attachment 1 file name Government_Response_to_Independent_Review_of_MS_Act (1).pdf title Gov Response Independent Review Modern Slavery
tabling member	4197 label Biography information for Baroness Doocey

1285390

registered interest
date	09/02/2021
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Human Trafficking: Children
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to combat child trafficking.
tabling member printed	Baroness Doocey
uin	HL13168
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/02/2021 answer text <p>This Government is committed to tackling the heinous crime of modern slavery and ensuring that all victims, including children, are provided with the support they need.</p><p>The Home Office continues to work with a range of partners to identify and deliver effective prevention activity. This includes awareness raising initiatives such as the Government’s ‘Hidden in Plain Sight’ campaign and the #SlaveryonYourDoorstep campaign led by CrimeStoppers. We also have a dedicated GOV.UK resources page that provides up-to-date information on how to spot the signs of modern slavery and report concerns.</p><p>Where children are found to be potential victims of human trafficking or modern slavery their safety and welfare are addressed as a priority. Local authorities are responsible for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all children in their area, including child victims of modern slavery. Local children's services will work in close co-operation with the police and other statutory agencies to offer potentially trafficked children the protection and support they require.</p><p>With regard to the types of exploitation experienced by child trafficking victims in the UK and any change in the types of exploitation being identified over the past 10 years, the Home Office publishes statistics on National Referral Mechanism (NRM) referrals on a quarterly basis. The NRM statistics for 2012 to 2016 can be found here: https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20170404150655/http://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/publications/national-referral-mechanism-statistics.</p><p>The NRM statistics for 2017 to 2018 can be found here: https://nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/who-we-are/publications?search=&amp;category%5B%5D=3&amp;=%2Fwho-we-are%2Fpublications%3Flimit%3D15%26sort%3Dtitle%26direction%3Dasc&amp;limit=100&amp;tag=</p><p>The 2019 report and Q1-Q3 of 2020 can be found here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-referral-mechanism-statistics" target="_blank">h</a>ttps://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-referral-mechanism-statistics</p><p>With regard to why some potential child trafficking victims are recorded as having experienced an unknown type of exploitation, the Home Office is currently addressing an earlier identified error that occurred in the data processing for the Q1-Q3 of 2020 statistics where some sexual exploitation referrals were miscategorised as ‘Not recorded or unknown’. Once this error is rectified, the number of sexual exploitation referrals will be higher than in the current statistical bulletins and the number of ‘not recorded or unknown’ referrals will be lower. The updated data will be released alongside the Quarter 4 (October to December 2020) statistics which are being prepared and will be released on 18 March 2021.</p><p>At the Reasonable Grounds stage of the National Referral Mechanism, the standard of proof is ‘suspects but cannot prove’. In Q2 and Q3 of 2020, 96% of Reasonable Grounds decisions made on child cases were positive.</p><p>Prior to the NRM digital case working system going live in January 2020, data collection on NRM cases included an ‘unknown’ exploitation category for any unknown case exploitation types. Since the new system has been introduced, there is now an ‘other exploitation’ free-text box that First Responders can fill in on the referral form to explain why they are unable to identify the exploitation type. The information contained within this box is considered by a Decision Maker when making the Reasonable Grounds decision. However, for data reporting purposes, this is classified as ‘unknown’.</p><p>Reasonable Grounds decisions are made based on the account of exploitation submitted in the form and not specifically on the exploitation type data, which is recorded to enable data analysis rather than to specifically support decision-making.</p><p>The Home Office continues to work with First Responders to ensure they understand the indicators of different exploitation types and, in July 2020, we released a new First Responder e-learning module which includes support on this issue.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Williams of Trafford grouped question UIN HL13169 HL13170 HL13171 question first answered 23/02/2021 16:52:29 answering member 4311 label Biography information for Baroness Williams of Trafford attachment 1 file name national-referral-mechanism-statistics-uk-quarter-3-2020-july-to-september-hosb3320.pdf title National Referral Mechanism Stats
tabling member	4197 label Biography information for Baroness Doocey

1285391

registered interest
date	09/02/2021
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Human Trafficking: Children
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the types of exploitation experienced by child trafficking victims in the UK; and whether they have identified any change in the types of such exploitation over the past 10 years.
tabling member printed	Baroness Doocey
uin	HL13169
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/02/2021 answer text <p>This Government is committed to tackling the heinous crime of modern slavery and ensuring that all victims, including children, are provided with the support they need.</p><p>The Home Office continues to work with a range of partners to identify and deliver effective prevention activity. This includes awareness raising initiatives such as the Government’s ‘Hidden in Plain Sight’ campaign and the #SlaveryonYourDoorstep campaign led by CrimeStoppers. We also have a dedicated GOV.UK resources page that provides up-to-date information on how to spot the signs of modern slavery and report concerns.</p><p>Where children are found to be potential victims of human trafficking or modern slavery their safety and welfare are addressed as a priority. Local authorities are responsible for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all children in their area, including child victims of modern slavery. Local children's services will work in close co-operation with the police and other statutory agencies to offer potentially trafficked children the protection and support they require.</p><p>With regard to the types of exploitation experienced by child trafficking victims in the UK and any change in the types of exploitation being identified over the past 10 years, the Home Office publishes statistics on National Referral Mechanism (NRM) referrals on a quarterly basis. The NRM statistics for 2012 to 2016 can be found here: https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20170404150655/http://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/publications/national-referral-mechanism-statistics.</p><p>The NRM statistics for 2017 to 2018 can be found here: https://nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/who-we-are/publications?search=&amp;category%5B%5D=3&amp;=%2Fwho-we-are%2Fpublications%3Flimit%3D15%26sort%3Dtitle%26direction%3Dasc&amp;limit=100&amp;tag=</p><p>The 2019 report and Q1-Q3 of 2020 can be found here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-referral-mechanism-statistics" target="_blank">h</a>ttps://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-referral-mechanism-statistics</p><p>With regard to why some potential child trafficking victims are recorded as having experienced an unknown type of exploitation, the Home Office is currently addressing an earlier identified error that occurred in the data processing for the Q1-Q3 of 2020 statistics where some sexual exploitation referrals were miscategorised as ‘Not recorded or unknown’. Once this error is rectified, the number of sexual exploitation referrals will be higher than in the current statistical bulletins and the number of ‘not recorded or unknown’ referrals will be lower. The updated data will be released alongside the Quarter 4 (October to December 2020) statistics which are being prepared and will be released on 18 March 2021.</p><p>At the Reasonable Grounds stage of the National Referral Mechanism, the standard of proof is ‘suspects but cannot prove’. In Q2 and Q3 of 2020, 96% of Reasonable Grounds decisions made on child cases were positive.</p><p>Prior to the NRM digital case working system going live in January 2020, data collection on NRM cases included an ‘unknown’ exploitation category for any unknown case exploitation types. Since the new system has been introduced, there is now an ‘other exploitation’ free-text box that First Responders can fill in on the referral form to explain why they are unable to identify the exploitation type. The information contained within this box is considered by a Decision Maker when making the Reasonable Grounds decision. However, for data reporting purposes, this is classified as ‘unknown’.</p><p>Reasonable Grounds decisions are made based on the account of exploitation submitted in the form and not specifically on the exploitation type data, which is recorded to enable data analysis rather than to specifically support decision-making.</p><p>The Home Office continues to work with First Responders to ensure they understand the indicators of different exploitation types and, in July 2020, we released a new First Responder e-learning module which includes support on this issue.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Williams of Trafford grouped question UIN HL13168 HL13170 HL13171 question first answered 23/02/2021 16:52:29 answering member 4311 label Biography information for Baroness Williams of Trafford attachment 1 file name national-referral-mechanism-statistics-uk-quarter-3-2020-july-to-september-hosb3320.pdf title National Referral Mechanism Stats
tabling member	4197 label Biography information for Baroness Doocey

1285392

registered interest
date	09/02/2021
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Human Trafficking: Children
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the reason why some potential child trafficking victims are recorded as having experienced an unknown type of exploitation; and whether that can influence the outcome of any reasonable grounds decision made under the National Referral Mechanism.
tabling member printed	Baroness Doocey
uin	HL13170
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/02/2021 answer text <p>This Government is committed to tackling the heinous crime of modern slavery and ensuring that all victims, including children, are provided with the support they need.</p><p>The Home Office continues to work with a range of partners to identify and deliver effective prevention activity. This includes awareness raising initiatives such as the Government’s ‘Hidden in Plain Sight’ campaign and the #SlaveryonYourDoorstep campaign led by CrimeStoppers. We also have a dedicated GOV.UK resources page that provides up-to-date information on how to spot the signs of modern slavery and report concerns.</p><p>Where children are found to be potential victims of human trafficking or modern slavery their safety and welfare are addressed as a priority. Local authorities are responsible for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all children in their area, including child victims of modern slavery. Local children's services will work in close co-operation with the police and other statutory agencies to offer potentially trafficked children the protection and support they require.</p><p>With regard to the types of exploitation experienced by child trafficking victims in the UK and any change in the types of exploitation being identified over the past 10 years, the Home Office publishes statistics on National Referral Mechanism (NRM) referrals on a quarterly basis. The NRM statistics for 2012 to 2016 can be found here: https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20170404150655/http://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/publications/national-referral-mechanism-statistics.</p><p>The NRM statistics for 2017 to 2018 can be found here: https://nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/who-we-are/publications?search=&amp;category%5B%5D=3&amp;=%2Fwho-we-are%2Fpublications%3Flimit%3D15%26sort%3Dtitle%26direction%3Dasc&amp;limit=100&amp;tag=</p><p>The 2019 report and Q1-Q3 of 2020 can be found here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-referral-mechanism-statistics" target="_blank">h</a>ttps://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-referral-mechanism-statistics</p><p>With regard to why some potential child trafficking victims are recorded as having experienced an unknown type of exploitation, the Home Office is currently addressing an earlier identified error that occurred in the data processing for the Q1-Q3 of 2020 statistics where some sexual exploitation referrals were miscategorised as ‘Not recorded or unknown’. Once this error is rectified, the number of sexual exploitation referrals will be higher than in the current statistical bulletins and the number of ‘not recorded or unknown’ referrals will be lower. The updated data will be released alongside the Quarter 4 (October to December 2020) statistics which are being prepared and will be released on 18 March 2021.</p><p>At the Reasonable Grounds stage of the National Referral Mechanism, the standard of proof is ‘suspects but cannot prove’. In Q2 and Q3 of 2020, 96% of Reasonable Grounds decisions made on child cases were positive.</p><p>Prior to the NRM digital case working system going live in January 2020, data collection on NRM cases included an ‘unknown’ exploitation category for any unknown case exploitation types. Since the new system has been introduced, there is now an ‘other exploitation’ free-text box that First Responders can fill in on the referral form to explain why they are unable to identify the exploitation type. The information contained within this box is considered by a Decision Maker when making the Reasonable Grounds decision. However, for data reporting purposes, this is classified as ‘unknown’.</p><p>Reasonable Grounds decisions are made based on the account of exploitation submitted in the form and not specifically on the exploitation type data, which is recorded to enable data analysis rather than to specifically support decision-making.</p><p>The Home Office continues to work with First Responders to ensure they understand the indicators of different exploitation types and, in July 2020, we released a new First Responder e-learning module which includes support on this issue.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Williams of Trafford grouped question UIN HL13168 HL13169 HL13171 question first answered 23/02/2021 16:52:29 answering member 4311 label Biography information for Baroness Williams of Trafford attachment 1 file name national-referral-mechanism-statistics-uk-quarter-3-2020-july-to-september-hosb3320.pdf title National Referral Mechanism Stats
tabling member	4197 label Biography information for Baroness Doocey

1285393

registered interest
date	09/02/2021
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Human Trafficking: Children
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to reduce the number of potential child trafficking victims recorded as facing an unknown type of exploitation under the National Referral Mechanism.
tabling member printed	Baroness Doocey
uin	HL13171
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/02/2021 answer text <p>This Government is committed to tackling the heinous crime of modern slavery and ensuring that all victims, including children, are provided with the support they need.</p><p>The Home Office continues to work with a range of partners to identify and deliver effective prevention activity. This includes awareness raising initiatives such as the Government’s ‘Hidden in Plain Sight’ campaign and the #SlaveryonYourDoorstep campaign led by CrimeStoppers. We also have a dedicated GOV.UK resources page that provides up-to-date information on how to spot the signs of modern slavery and report concerns.</p><p>Where children are found to be potential victims of human trafficking or modern slavery their safety and welfare are addressed as a priority. Local authorities are responsible for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all children in their area, including child victims of modern slavery. Local children's services will work in close co-operation with the police and other statutory agencies to offer potentially trafficked children the protection and support they require.</p><p>With regard to the types of exploitation experienced by child trafficking victims in the UK and any change in the types of exploitation being identified over the past 10 years, the Home Office publishes statistics on National Referral Mechanism (NRM) referrals on a quarterly basis. The NRM statistics for 2012 to 2016 can be found here: https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20170404150655/http://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/publications/national-referral-mechanism-statistics.</p><p>The NRM statistics for 2017 to 2018 can be found here: https://nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/who-we-are/publications?search=&amp;category%5B%5D=3&amp;=%2Fwho-we-are%2Fpublications%3Flimit%3D15%26sort%3Dtitle%26direction%3Dasc&amp;limit=100&amp;tag=</p><p>The 2019 report and Q1-Q3 of 2020 can be found here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-referral-mechanism-statistics" target="_blank">h</a>ttps://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-referral-mechanism-statistics</p><p>With regard to why some potential child trafficking victims are recorded as having experienced an unknown type of exploitation, the Home Office is currently addressing an earlier identified error that occurred in the data processing for the Q1-Q3 of 2020 statistics where some sexual exploitation referrals were miscategorised as ‘Not recorded or unknown’. Once this error is rectified, the number of sexual exploitation referrals will be higher than in the current statistical bulletins and the number of ‘not recorded or unknown’ referrals will be lower. The updated data will be released alongside the Quarter 4 (October to December 2020) statistics which are being prepared and will be released on 18 March 2021.</p><p>At the Reasonable Grounds stage of the National Referral Mechanism, the standard of proof is ‘suspects but cannot prove’. In Q2 and Q3 of 2020, 96% of Reasonable Grounds decisions made on child cases were positive.</p><p>Prior to the NRM digital case working system going live in January 2020, data collection on NRM cases included an ‘unknown’ exploitation category for any unknown case exploitation types. Since the new system has been introduced, there is now an ‘other exploitation’ free-text box that First Responders can fill in on the referral form to explain why they are unable to identify the exploitation type. The information contained within this box is considered by a Decision Maker when making the Reasonable Grounds decision. However, for data reporting purposes, this is classified as ‘unknown’.</p><p>Reasonable Grounds decisions are made based on the account of exploitation submitted in the form and not specifically on the exploitation type data, which is recorded to enable data analysis rather than to specifically support decision-making.</p><p>The Home Office continues to work with First Responders to ensure they understand the indicators of different exploitation types and, in July 2020, we released a new First Responder e-learning module which includes support on this issue.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Williams of Trafford grouped question UIN HL13168 HL13169 HL13170 question first answered 23/02/2021 16:52:29 answering member 4311 label Biography information for Baroness Williams of Trafford attachment 1 file name national-referral-mechanism-statistics-uk-quarter-3-2020-july-to-september-hosb3320.pdf title National Referral Mechanism Stats
tabling member	4197 label Biography information for Baroness Doocey

1284580

registered interest
date	08/02/2021
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Human Trafficking: Children
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many child trafficking cases in the National Referral Mechanism have been suspended before a conclusive decision was made in the past three years.
tabling member printed	Baroness Doocey
uin	HL13069
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/02/2021 answer text <p>When the Single Competent Authority becomes aware that an individual is missing, their National Referral Mechanism (NRM) case can be suspended unless there is already sufficient information available on which to make a decision. Suspended cases can be reopened at any time.</p><p>Sections 14.194 - 14.204 of the Modern Slavery: Statutory Guidance for England and Wales (under s49 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015) and Non-Statutory Guidance for Scotland and Northern Ireland Version 2.0 sets out the actions the SCA takes when suspending a case.</p><p>The Home Office publishes quarterly and annual statistics regarding the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) the latest published NRM statistics can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-referral-mechanism-statistics. However, the statistics do not currently contain data on the number of cases suspended prior to a Conclusive Grounds decision.</p> answering member printed Baroness Williams of Trafford grouped question UIN HL13070 HL13071 question first answered 22/02/2021 17:04:01 answering member 4311 label Biography information for Baroness Williams of Trafford
tabling member	4197 label Biography information for Baroness Doocey

1284582

registered interest
date	08/02/2021
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Human Trafficking: Children
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, in cases where a child awaiting a National Referral Mechanism (NRM) decision has been reported missing and does not return within 48 hours, how long is the NRM case file held open for before it is suspended.
tabling member printed	Baroness Doocey
uin	HL13071
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/02/2021 answer text <p>When the Single Competent Authority becomes aware that an individual is missing, their National Referral Mechanism (NRM) case can be suspended unless there is already sufficient information available on which to make a decision. Suspended cases can be reopened at any time.</p><p>Sections 14.194 - 14.204 of the Modern Slavery: Statutory Guidance for England and Wales (under s49 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015) and Non-Statutory Guidance for Scotland and Northern Ireland Version 2.0 sets out the actions the SCA takes when suspending a case.</p><p>The Home Office publishes quarterly and annual statistics regarding the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) the latest published NRM statistics can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-referral-mechanism-statistics. However, the statistics do not currently contain data on the number of cases suspended prior to a Conclusive Grounds decision.</p> answering member printed Baroness Williams of Trafford grouped question UIN HL13069 HL13070 question first answered 22/02/2021 17:04:01 answering member 4311 label Biography information for Baroness Williams of Trafford
tabling member	4197 label Biography information for Baroness Doocey

1284624

registered interest
date	08/02/2021
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Human Trafficking: Children
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of COVID-19 on (1) the level of child trafficking in the UK, and (2) their efforts to combat such trafficking.
tabling member printed	Baroness Doocey
uin	HL13072
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/02/2021 answer text <p>This Government is committed to protecting those at risk from abuse and exploitation, including during the Covid-19 pandemic.</p><p>The Home Office publishes statistics on National Referral Mechanism (NRM) referrals on a quarterly basis, and reports up to Q3 2020 can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-referral-mechanism-statistics</p><p>NRM referrals for individuals who were potentially exploited as children for quarter 1 (January to March), quarter 2 (April to June) and quarter 3 of 2020 (July to September) were 1,237, 1,274 and 1,159 respectively. Quarter 4 statistics (October to December 2020) are being prepared and the release date will be confirmed here. national referral - Research and statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)</p><p>During the Covid-19 pandemic, NRM referral rates may have been affected by a number of factors. This includes reduced levels of travel from other countries to the UK, and lockdown measures in the UK meaning victims have been less likely to interact with First Responders.</p><p>The Home Office recognises victims are coming into contact with different services during the pandemic and we have worked to raise awareness of the indicators of modern slavery with the providers of these services to ensure victims continue to be identified and supported.</p><p>The Home Office continues to work with a range of partners to identify and deliver effective prevention activity. This includes successful awareness raising initiatives such as the Government’s ‘Hidden in Plain Sight’ campaign and the #SlaveryonYourDoorstep campaign led by CrimeStoppers. We also have a dedicated GOV.UK resources page that provides up-to-date information on how to spot the signs of modern slavery and report concerns.</p><p>Throughout the pandemic, we have worked closely with law enforcement partners to monitor risks and ensure that social distancing measures do not impede their ability to carry out work to prevent and tackle crime or prevent victims coming forward.</p> answering member printed Baroness Williams of Trafford question first answered 22/02/2021 17:12:48 answering member 4311 label Biography information for Baroness Williams of Trafford
tabling member	4197 label Biography information for Baroness Doocey

1088847

registered interest
date	14/03/2019
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Human Trafficking: Children
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the findings in the report by Every Child Protected Against Trafficking and Missing People Still in Harm's Way: An update report on trafficked and unaccompanied children going missing from care in the UK, published in December 2018, what plans they have to investigate the causes behind the rising number of child victims of trafficking going missing from care after referral to the National Referral Mechanism.
tabling member printed	Baroness Doocey
uin	HL14552
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/03/2019 answer text <p>The updated report by Every Child Protected Against Trafficking and Missing People, Still in Harm's Way, does not show a rising proportion of child victims of trafficking going missing from care. The report recognises the improvements in the identification of child trafficking victims over the last two years.</p><p>The Government is committed to protecting all children who go missing and recognises the specific needs of trafficked children, which is why we have announced a range of actions to better protect child victims and keep them safe. The Government has committed to expanding Independent Child Trafficking Advocates to one third of all local authorities by April 2019. The Child Trafficking Protection Fund which, as well as providing victim support and recovery, aims to reduce vulnerability to exploitation by preventing trafficked children from going missing and potentially being retrafficked. In November 2017, the Department for Education published a Safeguarding Strategy for unaccompanied asylum seeking and refugee children. The Strategy commissioned a further 1,000 training places for carers and sup-port workers to equip them with the skills they need to identify when a child is at risk of going missing and of potentially being trafficked onwards. The Refugee Council are delivering this training and will have delivered 1,000 places by the end of March 2019.</p><p>The Home Office is also working with the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) through the Home Office National Law Enforcement Data Programme (NLEDP) to deliver a National Register of Missing Persons (NRMP). This will enable real time information about police reported miss-ing persons incidents to be accessed by police forces across England and Wales. Over time the NRMP will build a national picture of historic missing persons incidents. This will assist officers when they are looking for, or encounter a missing person, particularly if that missing person is outside their home force area. We are currently working towards the NRMP to be in use operationally in 2020/2021.</p> answering member printed Baroness Williams of Trafford question first answered 28/03/2019 17:08:14 answering member 4311 label Biography information for Baroness Williams of Trafford
tabling member	4197 label Biography information for Baroness Doocey