Deadline for submissions is 8 October 2025 as Government begins long-term reform of National Referral Mechanism
The Home Office has today launched a call for evidence inviting submissions on the effectiveness of the UK's system for identifying victims of modern slavery and trafficking.
Image credit: UK Government You can find full details of the call for evidence, including how to make a submission, here on GOV.UK. The deadline for submissions is 8 October 2025.
The Government says it is committed to reforming the UK's current National Referral Mechanism (NRM) framework for identifying victims of modern slavery and the call for evidence marks an important step toward long-term reform.
In a written statement to Parliament, Jess Phillips, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls, explained:
Statement
The National Referral Mechanism (NRM) is the framework used in the UK to formally identify and support victims of modern slavery and human trafficking, in line with the UK's legal obligations. Effective identification of victims of modern slavery in the UK is critical for ensuring that victims can be protected and provided with appropriate assistance and support towards their recovery from exploitation.
The Government is taking steps to improve this identification system, such as by recruiting new staff to reduce lengthy decision-making times, which has reduced the backlog to half the size it was at its peak. The Government has also updated the form used by First Responders to refer potential victims of modern slavery into the NRM to make it easier to upload information and to include more trauma-informed language.
While progress has been made, the Government recognises the need to do more by designing an effective identification system that is fit for the future. That is why I am pleased to announce that the Government today is publishing a public Call for Evidence on Identification of Victims of Modern Slavery.
This was something that I committed to on 27 March 2025 in a House of Commons debate marking the tenth anniversary of the Modern Slavery Act 2015.
The Call for Evidence focuses on definitions of a victim of modern slavery, identification and decision-making processes, and futureproofing the modern slavery system. A key aim is to strengthen the system, both now and for the future, ensuring that it effectively serves victims of modern slavery and is resilient to future changes.
The Call for Evidence on Identification of Victims of Modern Slavery (at: https://www.gov.uk/government/calls-for-evidence/identification-of-victims-of-modern-slavery) will run for a 12-week period and provides a valuable opportunity for the public and a wide range of groups with experience of the NRM to have their say, including victims and survivors of modern slavery, NGOs, police, local authorities and researchers.
A copy of the Call for Evidence will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses and published on Gov.uk.
Our vision is that, over the next five years, the UK has a more effective approach to identifying victims of modern slavery, where victims are recognised early and accurately so they can be protected and provided with appropriate assistance and support towards their recovery from exploitation.
This call for evidence marks an important step toward long-term reform of the UK's modern slavery identification system, known as the National Referral Mechanism (NRM). The government is seeking views from a broad range of individuals and organisations to help shape a system that more effectively identifies victims at an early stage, ensuring they are recognised accurately and supported appropriately. The aim is to strengthen protections and improve the recovery journey for those affected by exploitation.
The consultation is focused around three key areas where further evidence and insight are needed: how victims of modern slavery are defined; how they are initially identified; and how formal identification processes operate within the current system.
Meanwhile, two recent NGO reports explore issues around the shortcoming of the current system for supporting victims of trafficking and modern slavery.
Anti Trafficking and Labour Exploitation Unit (ATLEU) and the Voice of Domestic Workers published the 105-page report Untapping a Power: Why employing survivors matters, which you can download here.
The report, based on research led by survivors of trafficking and exploitation, highlights the deep exclusion faced by people with lived experience within the anti-trafficking and support sectors. Survivors continue to encounter major barriers to employment, such as poverty, insecure immigration status, and long delays in the identification and asylum systems. Even when survivors are involved, it is often in unpaid roles with limited access to training or leadership opportunities. The report calls for urgent reforms to legal and immigration systems, better funding, and meaningful inclusion of survivors in shaping services and policy.
It also underscores the critical importance of survivor voices in designing effective support. Survivors bring unique insights and real-world solutions, yet remain underrepresented and undervalued. Without significant change, the report warns, both the sector and those it seeks to help will continue to miss out on the skills and expertise of those who have experienced exploitation first-hand.
A second report, Road to Nowhere: The impact of insecure immigration status on survivors of trafficking, published by the Helen Bamber Foundation, ATLEU, and ECPAT UK, exposes how the UK's immigration system is failing confirmed victims of trafficking. The 28-page report can be downloaded here.
According to new figures in the report, over 4,240 non-British nationals were formally recognised as victims through the NRM in 2024, but only 4% of those were granted permission to remain in the UK. The vast majority were refused leave to remain, leaving them at risk of destitution, detention, and re-trafficking. Children fared even worse, with less than 1% of eligible child victims receiving temporary leave. Many who were granted leave received it for less than 12 months, undermining their ability to recover or rebuild their lives.
The report argues that the UK's current system places an excessively high evidential burden on survivors and does not comply with international obligations to protect trafficking victims, especially children. Without secure immigration status, survivors are pushed into poverty, denied access to support services, and live in constant fear of removal. This insecurity also deters many from cooperating with prosecutions or accessing vital care. The authors call for automatic and longer-term leave to remain for confirmed victims, warning that without meaningful protection, the UK risks compounding survivors' trauma and failing in its legal and moral obligations.
Urging reform of the current 'bureaucratic and re-traumatising' system, the report concludes:
In order to tackle the crime of human trafficking, protection and support measures must be put in place that allow people to come forward about their exploitation without fear of repercussion and in the knowledge that they will receive meaningful protection and help to recover. Ensuring a secure immigration pathway for confirmed victims of trafficking so that they have safety and stability is essential to prevent further exploitation and promote long-term recovery. It also increases the chance of traffickers actually being prosecuted.
However, the government's current approach fails to address the wider needs of survivors when assessing whether to grant them permission to remain in the UK. Leave to remain is seen by the government only as a way to temporarily assist a small minority in their recovery and/or engagement with the criminal justice system.
Repeated calls have been made for ongoing financial and practical support and for a period of leave to remain to be made automatically available to all victims after they have been confirmed as a victim of trafficking. The need is as great as ever, and has only been worsened by new changes to law and policy. The shockingly low grant rate, and the limited durations of leave granted, reflect a system that is not functioning and which is not compatible with the spirit of the UK's international obligations. We urgently need changes to the support system for survivors and a demonstration of true commitment to addressing trafficking in the UK.