UK’s modern slavery programme at ‘breaking point’ as demand from victims soars

Suspected modern slavery victims are waiting almost a year and a half on average to get a Home Office decision

It is now taking over 520 days, on average, for a suspected modern slavery victim to get a conclusive decision (Getty/iStock)

Victims of modern slavery are being failed because the government programme designed to help them is at “breaking point”, a charity has warned.

There was a 38 per cent increase in the number of potential victims of modern slavery being referred for help to the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) – up from 3,317 in Autumn 2021 to 4,586 in the same period in 2022.

But charities have warned that many more victims are struggling to get help because the organisations that are allowed to refer them are swamped with requests.