Modern slavery survey: Research Report - Winter 2021-2022

Modern slavery is a heinous crime, and councils’ work to tackle it has developed significantly over the past few years. This report presents the findings of a Local Government Association (LGA) survey conducted to explore what structures and workstreams councils have put in place to respond to modern slavery, and how they are supporting victims.

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On 9 December 2021, an online survey was sent by the LGA, via an email link, to all councils in England (a total of 333 councils). The survey was in the field for two months. A total of 116 councils responded, which is a response rate of 35 per cent.  This level of response means that these results should not be taken to be more widely representative of the views of all councils. Rather, they are a snapshot of the views of this particular group of respondents.

Key findings - the top five

  • Seven out of 10 councils (72 per cent) said modern slavery was an agreed priority for the council or one of its committees.
  • Three-quarters of councils (75 per cent) said they participated in a local modern slavery partnership
  • Just over eight out of 10 councils (81 per cent) said they provided training on modern slavery to staff. Most of the remainder (18 per cent) said that training was planned in the next 12 months
  • Almost all respondents (96 per cent) said their council had an agreed point of contact or pathway for members of staff to raise concerns about possible adult victims of modern slavery
  • Nearly nine out of 10 respondents (88 per cent) said their council had and agreed process or pathway for managing referrals of adult victims of modern slavery into the NRM