Estimate of 13,000 potential victims ‘far too modest’, says Anti-slavery commissioner
The scale of modern slavery in the UK is much greater than previously thought, a watchdog has warned.
Kevin Hyland, the independent anti-slavery commissioner, described an official estimate suggesting there are up to 13,000 potential victims as “far too modest”.
Instead, he put the true number in the “tens of thousands”.
Modern slavery covers a range of offences including forced labour or criminality, domestic servitude and human trafficking.
The most often cited official estimate for the extent of the problem suggested there were 10,000 to 13,000 potential modern slavery victims in the UK in 2013.
Mr Hyland (pictured) said of the figure, which was published in 2014 by the Home Office: “I deem this far too modest, with the true number in the tens of thousands.”
His comments chime with an assessment from the National Crime Agency, which warned earlier this year that modern slavery and human trafficking in the UK is much more prevalent than previously thought, with cases affecting every large town and city in the country.
On Monday the commissioner published his annual report for 2016/17.
In it he described how victims of modern slavery suffer “immeasurable trauma”, writing: “In few other crimes are human beings used as commodities over and over again. It is a human evil, horrifying in its inhumanity.”
Mr Hyland’s previous annual report raised the alarm over the law enforcement response to the issue.
He highlighted how failings in crime recording meant investigations were not being launched, criminals were not being found, and victims were left enslaved.
But in his latest report, Mr Hyland said: “I can confidently say that we have seen a shift.”
The commissioner flagged up figures showing in 2016/17, forces in England and Wales recorded 2,255 modern slavery offences – a rise of 159% on the previous year.
Over the same 12-month period, there were 3,871 referrals to the National Referral Mechanism, a framework established to identify potential victims.
New measures to improve the way victims of modern slavery are identified and supported were also announced on Monday.
They include the creation of a single unit in the Home Office to handle all cases referred from frontline staff and to make decisions about whether somebody is a victim of modern slavery, as well as the introduction of an independent panel of experts to review all negative decisions.
The measures were agreed at a meeting of a modern slavery taskforce.
Home Secretary Amber Rudd, who chaired the meeting, said: “Members of the taskforce are absolutely determined to deliver a more efficient decision-making process, with robust quality assurance, and for all partners to keep working together to protect victims and pursue offenders.
“The UK has led the world in exposing and fighting modern slavery and, as our understanding of its scale and nature evolves, so must our response.”
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