Briefing: the support system for migrant victims of human trafficking

In this briefing we look at the existing and developing mechanisms for support for migrant victims in the modern slavery system. We also recommend looking at “A guide to assisting survivors of modern slavery in the asylum system” produced by ATLEU and the Asylum Support Appeal Project in partnership with British Red Cross.

Introduction

The Modern Slavery Act is the key piece of legislation providing statutory protection and support for people identified as potential victims.

Sections 1 and 2 of the Act distinguish between “slavery” and “trafficking”, which are separate criminal offences. The difference is more important for criminal lawyers dealing with prosecutions under the Act than it is for immigration lawyers trying to help victims. Immigration lawyers tend to talk about trafficking, as that is about movement of people, so we’ll use that term in this article.

The most relevant sections of the Modern Slavery Act for an immigration practitioner are in part 5, covering “Protection of Victims”. Section 52 places various public bodies, such as local councils and the police, under a “duty to notify” the Home Office when they encounter potential victims of trafficking.

The Home Office system for processing such referrals, deciding whether someone is actually a victim and providing support is called the National Referral Mechanism (NRM). When first introduced, NRM decision-making functions were handled by a combination of UK Visas and Immigration, Immigration Enforcement and the National Crime Agency.

That system was then replaced with a ‘Single Competent Authority’ to combine decision-making into a single organisation. The Single Competent Authority came into being in April 2019. In November 2021 the Immigration Enforcement Competent Authority was introduced. Both authorities are ultimately part of the Home Office, so sometimes we talk informally about decisions about trafficking victims being made “by the Home Office” and any challenges to decisions made will be brought against the Home Secretary.

The support system for suspected and confirmed victims of trafficking/modern slavery is undergoing a period of upheaval. The statutory guidance, which was updated on 1 May 2025, begins by emphasising the need for rehabilitation of victims and confirming that institutional efforts should be addressed in this direction.

The guidance also highlights the importance of collaborative partnerships and multi-agency cooperation in order to ensure that victims are identified, protected and safeguarded, confirms that the government is introducing minimum standards of care in all future contracts based on The Slavery and Trafficking Survivor Care Standards, and says that a reference group has been established to help ensure that this is reviewed and updated.  

Adult victims and potential victims

Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract

Adults who consent to being referred into the NRM system can receive support while in the process. In England and Wales, support in the community is available through the Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract (“the contract”) which is designed to provide essential support to prevent destitution and to avoid a breach of an individual’s rights under the Council of Europe’s Convention on Action against Trafficking (ECAT).

Support through the MSVCC can begin when a ‘first responder’ (one of the organisations recognised by the Home Office as being able to identify and refer potential victims) refers someone into the system, with their consent.

Before receiving a reasonable grounds decision

A reasonable grounds decision is the first of two decisions made by the Home Office when assessing whether someone might be a victim of human trafficking. It is made to a standard of proof which is lower than the ‘balance of probabilities’ and a decision maker need only agree with the statement that there are ‘reasonable grounds to believe that a person is a victim of modern slavery’. This decision should be made within five working days of a referral by a first responder but this is not always the case.

Where someone may be facing destitution before receiving this decision, the contract provides that accommodation can be provided on an emergency basis only where necessary to avoid destitution. Support provided on this basis will comprise of accommodation, if needed, and financial support to meet their essential living needs. This is paid at the Essential Living Rate which is £49.18 per week or £15.08 per week for those who have been provided with catered accommodation.

The Salvation Army is the organisation which will determine whether an individual requires emergency support to prevent destitution prior to a reasonable grounds decision and upon referral they will establish any immediate welfare needs.

When someone says that they need emergency support, a number of factors will be considered. Considerations include whether someone is eligible for alternative support such as through the local authority, whether they are entitled to asylum support, whether they can return to their country of origin or another safe country, or whether family or friends can provide support. Accommodation will only be provided on an emergency basis if there is reason to believe there is a) no other accommodation available to them and b) without emergency accommodation they would be unsafe due to the risk of re-exploitation.  

One issue that may arise at this stage is the range of organisations which could have responsibility for the individual and it may be difficult for someone to advocate on their behalf for emergency accommodation if they are unaware of the above mentioned entitlements to alternative support. 

After a reasonable grounds decision

Following a positive reasonable grounds decision, adult victims will usually be provided with a recovery period of at least 30 calendar days (but usually this period is far longer) beginning on the date the decision is made.

At this stage a more substantial assessment of the individual’s needs will be carried out to understand what elements of support are required in relation to the individual’s ongoing recovery needs. Usually an individual will be assigned a support worker to assist with this and a ‘journey plan’ will be completed to ensure the victim or potential victim is aware of and able to access support and assistance.

A positive decision at this stage will mean that a person becomes eligible for legal aid under paragraph 32(1)(a) of LASPO in relation to a grant of leave based on their trafficking claim (if they have an asylum claim then they may be entitled to legal aid on that basis, it can also be possible to get legal aid to challenge a negative reasonable grounds decision), social care services and access to health and mental health care services, as well as financial support and housing.

The financial support is provided at the same Essential Living Rate as above which is £49.18 per week or £15.08 per week for those who have been provided with catered accommodation. An additional payment know as the Recovery Rate is paid at the rate of £26.84 per week and is available where needed to cover certain travel and communication needs and access to organised classes where “considered beneficial for recovery where the victim has ongoing mental health recovery needs linked to their modern slavery experience”.

There are concerns about the effectiveness of the mental health support in practice. A recent report from After Exploitation found:

Survivors are facing significant barriers to securing mental health support. The government does not automatically recognise all survivors with a positive RG decision as eligible for therapeutic assessment, despite there being a high likelihood of them requiring it, having experienced modern slavery. Survivors are also expected to gather paperwork, such as GP evidence of mental health needs and waiting times, without publicly available guidance on how decisions are made to reject funding requests.

In reality, individuals may be in this recovery period for far longer than 30 days while they await their trafficking decision. If you are working with someone who is in this process, it is important to assist them to advocate for a regular review of their journey plan and ongoing support needs. 

After a conclusive grounds decision

A conclusive grounds decision is the second of two decisions in the trafficking process and confirms whether or not it is accepted that someone is a victim of trafficking. Where a positive decision is made at this stage, a recovery needs assessment will be carried out to determine what elements of support, if any, are still needed.

Anyone who receives a decision which confirms they are victim is guaranteed a minimum of 45 days of move-on support from the date of receipt of the decision, to assist with transition out of support provided under the contract. During this period, existing support will be continued. If a person has already had the minimum 45 day period but has not had a decision on the recovery needs assessment, support will stop nine working days after receipt of that decision.

Where support is stopped, it is important to be aware that it is possible to ask for this to be reinstated and also that it may be possible to challenge a refusal to do, as was done successfully in a recent case.

Child victims – duties and support

A different set of rules apply to child victims and potential victims.

The guidance at section 9 summarises child protection and safeguarding systems and support for trafficked children. It sets out the responsibility of three safeguarding partners (local authority, chief officers of police and clinical commissioning groups) to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.

In practice this means developing protocols, resources and support to safeguard all children in the UK, regardless of their immigration status. An alarming number of children go missing in the UK from asylum support hotels and directly from specific local authorities with Kent losing 52 children from care between 2018 to 2025. Trafficking and exploitation of children plays a role in these cases of missing children. 

Start of the identification process

Once a child is identified as a potential victim of exploitation or trafficking, social services have to decide within 24 hours if an initial assessment is needed. A strategy discussion should be held by the local authority and early help provided.

The local authority child protection team should carry out a ‘child in need’ section 17 assessment to ensure the child is safe and that any contact with traffickers ceases.  A section 47 inquiry will be initiated where there is reasonable cause to suspect the child is at risk of harm. Both section 17 and section 47 are enshrined in the Children Act 1989.

Unaccompanied children with no parent or guardian will receive local authority support under section 20 of the Children’s Act and be provided with accommodation. After being accommodated for 24 hours, the child then becomes a ‘looked after child’ and should be entitled to the same local authority provision as any looked after child.

The child is allocated a social worker who should draw up a care plan and this should include meeting needs such as the health and education of the child. Primary to this should be the protection of the child from any ongoing risk from traffickers.

Home Office decision makers fixatedly focus on claimant’s ability to consistently recall past events. Section 9.24 underlines that trafficked children often give conflicting accounts and that this is a common indicator of trafficking. It underlines that credibility judgements should not be made. This section can be helpful for drafting representations where the Single Competent Authority raises points of inconsistency, as are the indicators in the annex, in particular the child-specific indicators at 10.7 to 10.18.

As with adult cases, any child suspected of being exploited or enslaved should be referred into the NRM. As a named first responder, social services should make this referral. Legal representatives may need to explain this duty to social services if they have limited experience of working with trafficked children.

The guidance underlines that a child should not have to repeat their trafficking experience to different professionals. To minimise distress, where possible, the authorised legal representative and social worker should share information on the child’s trafficking experience.

Local authority role

Unlike adult cases, the local authority is the primary service provider for the child’s protection and support. There is no involvement of the Salvation Army until the child leaves the care of the local authority. Some young people can stay in care up to 25 years of age, depending on their specific circumstances.

When working on child cases, it is important to liaise with their social worker or, once they turn 18, their personal advisor. These key contacts will help you as a legal representative to understand the extent of your young client’s care and support within the local authority.

For age disputed children it should be assumed that the child is under 18 and the care as stated above should be rolled out until the age dispute is resolved.

Independent child trafficking guardians

For children, the additional support of independent child trafficking guardians exists, however this is dependent on location as only two thirds of local authorities currently have independent guardians. A guardian is an independent source of advice who can speak up on behalf of children, act in their best interests.

For children with no parental care, the guardians offer direct support via face to face meetings and / or remote support. For children who have someone acting as a parent, they tend to provide indirect support such as advice and guidance to professionals and parents to ensure the child’s best interests are met. The first responder should refer a child to the independent guardian service via the Barnardo’s online referral form.

Child criminal exploitation 

Child criminal exploitation has no statutory definition but is defined for the guidance at section 9.32. Section 9.39 provides a definition of County Lines. It is stated that the child should be seen as a child first, and an offender second. It calls for all professionals to work in a child centred and child focused manner. As outlined above, an assessment under Section 17 or Section 47 should be carried out, along with a referral into the NRM.

Where a criminal act has been made as a result of exploitation, the child may be eligible for a defence under section 45 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015. It is important for immigration legal representatives to inform criminal representatives of this defence as they may be unaware of this provision.

When a child becomes an adult 

Where a child becomes an adult, they can then consent to continue to access support in the NRM as an adult. The local authority will contact the Single Competent Authority and the support will be provided under the contract.

Once a victim has a positive conclusive grounds decision, they will then be referred to the Salvation Army where they should receive 30 days calendar days of support. They should also receive at least 45 days of move on support after which they exit the support provided under the contract. 

Conclusion  

The multiplicity of agencies involved in supporting victims and potential victims is both a strength and weakness of the system. There are many opportunities for individuals to fall through gaps in support. The support provided may also depend on an individual’s ability and timing to fully disclose their trafficking experience, navigate the system and to advocate for the support to which they are entitled. On the other hand, there is the possibility for collaboration and support from a wide-range of professionals to addresses the complex and differing needs of adults and children who have been trafficked.

This article was first published in August 2020 and has since been updated with the assistance of Sarah Wahby so that it is correct as at the above date.