Councils play a crucial role in supporting victims of modern slavery. Depending on the age and needs of victims of modern slavery, councils may have statutory responsibilities to provide support to them.
Child victims
Under the Children Act 1989, where a council has reason to believe that a child (irrespective of immigration status) may suffer or is suffering significant harm, they are under a duty to investigate whether any action is needed to protect the welfare of that child.
Although the support provided to child victims is led locally, child victims are also referred into the NRM. In 2021, councils referred 25 per cent (3,229) of all cases referrals into the NRM, the vast majority of which related to children.
Particularly in the case of victims of county lines criminal exploitation, child slavery cases will often constitute a very different pattern of risk and impact to traditional child safeguarding, which focuses on preventing children from being harmed within the home. Victims of criminal exploitation will have been groomed by their exploiters, may not see themselves as victims and may resist support from both families and statutory services, including going missing from family homes and care.
Significant work is underway to develop child safeguarding practice and social care support to reflect these more recent patterns of exploitation and identify the best responses. A third of councils are signed up to implementing the contextual safeguarding framework developed by the University of Bedfordshire, with other councils also working with partners on approaches to extra-familial harm ( risks to the welfare of children that arise outside of the family/home, for example in the community or through peer groups).
Adult victims
Although this may change under the Illegal Migration Bill, victims of modern slavery who choose to enter the NRM (which many do not wish to do) are currently entitled to support from the Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract, in addition to local support that they may be eligible for. The support a person is entitled to depends on individual needs (particularly if they have care and support needs as defined by the Care Act 2014) and their immigration status. Adult victims of modern slavery may be entitled to support under:
- The Housing Act 1996: Victims may be entitled to a range of support including the provision of interim accommodation and temporary accommodation (if homeless and in priority need). The homelessness code of guidance was updated in summer 2021 specifically to reflect these duties more clearly. However, a victim may not be entitled to support, for example, if they do not enter the NRM or if they have no recourse to public funds.
- Care Act 2014: if modern slavery victims have care needs as defined by the Care Act they will be entitled to social care support.
- Localism Act 2011: the general power of competence introduced in the Localism Act provides councils with the powers to act to meet local needs, so long as it is not prohibited by statute. Councils have been encouraged to use this power to provide support for victims of modern slavery who do not otherwise have entitlement to access local services and/or to avoid breaching the wider international obligations.
We have long been calling on Government for further clarity on how the UK’s international obligations regarding modern slavery should be supported at the local level. The UK has signed up to different conventions with different obligations, including the European Convention on Human Rights, Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings 2005 and EU Anti-Trafficking Directive. Some of these international commitments could be interpreted as going beyond the domestic legislation.
It is therefore important that domestic law is aligned to the international duties the UK is bound by, and the case law relating to it, to give local partners clarity on what support should be provided to victims of modern slavery and by whom. This will help improve the consistency of support that victims of modern slavery receive. Specifically, it should be clear when/whether a person should be provided with local (rather than MSVCC) support for being a victim of modern slavery, or whether they have to meet normal thresholds outlined in other existing legislation. It is vital that Government addresses these issues within the previously announced Modern Slavery Bill.