Guidance

Devolving child decision making pilot programme: general guidance

Updated 5 December 2023

Version 6.0

Updated November 2023

Introduction

The National Referral Mechanism (NRM) is the UK’s framework for identifying victims of modern slavery and human trafficking. ^{[footnote 1]} The Single Competent Authority (SCA) in the Home Office considers cases of potential victims referred to the NRM by First Responder Organisations and operates a two-stage decision making process to determine whether an individual is a victim of modern slavery. The SCA will make a Reasonable Grounds decision to determine whether “there are reasonable grounds to believe, based on all available general and specific evidence but falling short of conclusive proof, that a person is a victim of modern slavery (human trafficking or slavery, servitude, or forced or compulsory labour)”. This decision should be made within 5 working days of referral, where possible. There is no target to make a Conclusive Grounds decision within a specific timeframe. The SCA will aim to issue a Conclusive Grounds decision as soon as possible after at least 30 calendar days from the date of the Reasonable Grounds decision (the Recovery Period) have passed , providing there is sufficient information to determine whether ‘on the balance of probabilities’ there is sufficient information to decide if the individual is a victim of modern slavery.

In 2020, 10,613 potential victims of modern slavery were referred to the NRM, a similar number to 2019 and a 52% increase from 2018. In 2020, 4,946 of these referrals (47%) were for individuals who claimed they were exploited as minors. 2021 saw a 20% increase of referrals compared to 2020 with a total of 12,727 potential victims of modern slavery referred to the Home Office. In 2021, 5,468 of these referrals (43%) were for individuals who claimed they were exploited as minors. 2022 saw a further increase, with 16,938 referrals of potential victims of modern slavery, 33% more than the preceding year. In 2022, 41% of total referrals for individuals claimed they were exploited as minors.

Support for child victims of modern slavery and trafficking, except for the Independent Child Trafficking Guardian (ICTG) service ^{[footnote 2]} and the Independent Child Trafficking Guardian Service in Scotland, ^{[footnote 3]} is provided by local authorities and partner agencies under existing statutory obligations ^{[footnote 4]} and is provided regardless of their nationality or immigration status.

In England and Wales, local safeguarding partners – local authorities, police and clinical commissioning groups – have a duty to work together to safeguard and promote the welfare of children including child victims of modern slavery. In Scotland, local authorities have a duty to work together with multi-agency partners – police and health professionals – to support and care for child victims of human trafficking and exploitation through child protection processes ^{[footnote 5]} and the Getting It Right for Every Child ^{[footnote 6]} approach to improving outcomes for children and young people. Local authorities have a duty to protect and support child victims of modern slavery. Working Together to Safeguard Children and Care of unaccompanied migrant children and child victims of modern slavery both state local authorities and wider safeguarding partners should consider modern slavery and/or trafficking as part of their role. Because of the circumstances they have faced, child victims of modern slavery, including trafficking, often have complex needs in addition to those faced by looked after children more generally. The Care Planning, Placement and Case Review (England) Regulations 2010 require the responsible local authority to undertake the single assessment conducted as the first step in the care planning process. Following assessment, the local authority will produce a care plan setting out how their needs will be met. The local authority should undertake such an assessment with reference, where relevant to the child’s needs as a child victim of modern slavery.

Given local safeguarding partners are the primary support providers to children, we are seeking to understand through this devolved decision-making pilot the benefits of a local, multi-agency approach to identification of child victims of modern slavery, referred to herein as ‘the Pilot’.

Purpose of the Pilot

The Pilot forms part of a wider programme of activity to identify sustainable longer-term options for the NRM. The purpose of the Pilot is to test whether determining if a child is a victim of modern slavery within existing safeguarding structures is a more appropriate model for making modern slavery decisions for children. This approach will enable decisions about whether a child is a victim of modern slavery to be made by those involved in their care and ensure the decisions made are closely aligned with the provision of local, needs-based support and any law enforcement response.

Scope of the Pilot

Pilot areas have been identified by a competitive process. This was open to all local authorities in the United Kingdom with responsibility for children’s social care. The competition was designed to ensure that a diverse range of areas across the UK were selected to be part of the Pilot, allowing us to test the model in different settings. This includes Scotland which operates with devolved legislation and statutory duties regarding child welfare, protection and human trafficking; as well as having a different criminal justice system in relation to the prosecution of human trafficking. Applications were welcomed from either individual local authorities or local authorities acting together as a consortium. Ten sites were selected for the first phase of the Pilot which launched in June 2021, with an additional ten sites selected to join the second phase of the Pilot between February and April 2023.

The following twenty sites have been selected to take part in the pilot through fair and open competition:

Location	Site
England	Croydon Council
England	East Sussex County Council and Brighton and Hove City Council
England	Enfield Council
England	Hampshire County Council
England	Hull City Council
England	London Borough of Barking and Dagenham
England	London Borough of Bexley
England	London Borough of Islington and London Borough of Camden
England	London Borough of Lewisham
England	London Borough of Redbridge
England	North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire
England	North Yorkshire Council and the City of York
England	Oxfordshire County Council
England	Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and the Borough of Westminster
England	Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council
England	Warwickshire County Council
England	Wiltshire Council and Swindon Metropolitan Borough Council
Scotland	Glasgow City Council
Wales	Cardiff Council
Wales	Newport City Council and Torfaen, Blaenau Gwent, Monmouth and Caerphilly

The Pilot is open to all children in pilot site areas who are more than 100 days away from their 18th birthday where the safeguarding responsibility falls to one of the local authorities listed above. Children who are within 100 days of their 18th birthday continue to have decisions made by the SCA. This 100-day period is to ensure decisions are complete before a child’s 18th birthday.  If it is likely the child will turn 18 before the conclusion of their case within the Pilot, the pilot site should notify the Home Office immediately. If the child turns 18 whilst in the Pilot, their case will be removed from the pilot site and transferred back to the SCA. Other than in exceptional cases, decisions should be complete within 90 days. There is flexibility for pilot areas to inform the SCA if a decision is going to take more than 90 days due to evidence not being available.

Where an individual is in the pilot area, but it is not clear whether they are a child (i.e. under 18), these individuals have their decisions made by the SCA. Excluding cases from the scope of the pilot where there is uncertainty around the age of the individual will ensure that only decisions made about children more than 100 days from their 18th birthday are included.

Children who are being considered for Public Order Disqualification, as set out in Section 63 of the Nationality and Borders Act 2022, will have their modern slavery decision retained by the SCA. If a Public Order Disqualification was considered for a child but it has been determined that the disqualification will not apply, then the appropriate party to make any further modern slavery decisions about the child will be considered on a case-by-case basis by the SCA. Further details on Public Order Disqualifications are set out in the Modern Slavery: statutory guidance for England and Wales (under s49 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015) and non-statutory guidance for Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Requirements and decision making

We are keen to provide as much flexibility as possible in how the pilots operate. However, there are some elements that will be common to decision-making across all pilot sites to ensure consistency and alignment with published guidance. Decision making will follow the same process and will be made in accordance with definitions and thresholds as set out in the Modern Slavery Statutory Guidance for England and Wales (under s49 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015) and Non-Statutory Guidance for Scotland and Northern Ireland Chapter 7 and Annex E. The detail of how this will operate is set out in the Devolving Child Decision Making Pilot Programme Decision Making Guidance for Pilot Sites. This guidance is available here. The key elements of the Pilot are as follows:

In all cases children continue to receive appropriate safeguarding and support in line with current statutory requirements irrespective of the stage they are at in the decision-making process.^{[footnote 7]}

Both the Reasonable Grounds and Conclusive Grounds decisions are taken through a multi-agency structure at one or more meetings, which must have representation from the three core safeguarding partners – the local authority, health and police. The chair of the multi-agency structure should not be the lead social worker involved in a child’s case to ensure the social worker is able to represent the child’s view and avoid any conflict of interest.

Where the Pilot is in an area where the ICTG service, the Independent Child Trafficking Guardian Service in Scotland or equivalent statutory provision is rolled out, the views of the ICTG or Independent Child Trafficking Guardian in Scotland should be sought before taking a Reasonable Grounds decision and/or a Conclusive Grounds decision and they should be invited to share information and attend any relevant meetings. As they are independent, the ICTG and the Independent Child Trafficking Guardian in Scotland must not participate in the decision making.^{[footnote 8]} More information on who should vote and advise on NRM panels can be found below in ‘appropriate attendees on NRM panels’.

A Reasonable Grounds decision should be made no later than 45 days from the date the pilot site receives the referral. A positive Conclusive Grounds decision can also be made at the same meeting if there is sufficient evidence to do so.

If a pilot site deems the evidence gathered for the first multi-agency meeting is insufficient for a positive Conclusive Grounds decision to be taken at the same meeting, then a second meeting to make the Conclusive Grounds decision should take place no later than 45 days after the first meeting (90 days in total), after the Home Office have provided quality assurance on the Reasonable Grounds decision, where appropriate. The pilot site must notify the Home Office of that assessment and provide a date for a follow-up meeting no later than 45 days after the initial meeting.

A negative Conclusive Grounds decision should not be made at an initial meeting if a positive Reasonable Grounds has been reached. Instead, a second meeting to make the Conclusive Grounds decision should be scheduled to allow for further evidence to come to light or be collected. The pilot site must notify the Home Office of that assessment and provide a date for a follow-up meeting no later than 45 days after the initial meeting, after the Home Office have provided quality assurance on the Reasonable Grounds decision, where appropriate.

Children in the Pilot will continue to receive a Recovery Period of a minimum of 30 calendar days as set out in the Nationality and Borders Act 2022, the Modern Slavery Act 2015 Statutory Guidance for England and Wales and Non-Statutory Guidance in Scotland and Northern Ireland.  The Recovery Period is the period lasting for 30 days from the date a positive Reasonable Grounds decision is made, or until a Conclusive Grounds decision is made by the multi-agency structure, whichever is the later. A negative Conclusive Grounds decision cannot be served during the 30 day Recovery Period.

After a positive Reasonable Grounds decision has been made, there will be no minimum period of time before a positive Conclusive Grounds decision can be served, where there is sufficient information to make a positive decision. However, the recovery period and associated support and protection from removal must be maintained for a minimum of 30 days following the positive Reasonable Grounds decision.

The pilot sites must keep the SCA informed of outcomes of a Reasonable Grounds and/or a Conclusive Grounds decision, and will collate the relevant information required by the SCA to:

• update relevant Home Office databases.
• issue decision letters; and
• publish the quarterly government statistics in relation to child victims of modern slavery.

All data shared between the Home Office and pilot sites is through the Home Office secure data transfer portal .

Appropriate attendees on NRM panels

This ‘appropriate attendees on NRM panels’ section will come into effect on 18 December 2023. From this date, all panels will need to adhere to the guidance in this section.

Individuals who sit on NRM panels must be comprised of fully trained voting decision-makers and may also include non-votingpanel members, both of which must come to panels fully prepared to discuss each referral.

Whilst there is no limit to the number of individuals that can attend panel meetings, given the sensitive nature of the conversations taking place, consideration must be given to ensuring that all those attending are able to make a clear contribution and have a clear purpose for being on the panel, either by providing evidence to inform decision-making, representing the voice of the potential victim, or having directly relevant child safeguarding and modern slavery expertise. It is the responsibility of the three statutory safeguarding partners - policy, health and local authority - to work together to safeguard children. Policies and procedures should be in place to set out clearly the systems and processes and the principles for sharing information internally and with other agencies and organisations, including third party providers to which local authorities have chosen to delegate social care functions, local safeguarding partners, and government agencies.

Voting decision-makers

Individuals who act as voting decision-makers on NRM panels are required to undertake the appropriate training provided by the Home Office prior to participating in the decision-making panel. Voting decision-makers must come to the NRM panel fully trained and prepared to vote on all NRM decisions.

Both the Reasonable Grounds and Conclusive Grounds decisions are taken through a multi-agency structure at one or more meetings, which must have a voting decision-maker from all the three core safeguarding partners. These three safeguarding partners are:

• local authority
• health
• police

It is these three safeguarding partners only that are voting decision-makers on NRM panels.

There must only be one voting decision-maker from each of the three safeguarding partners – one voting police representative, one voting health representative and one voting local authority representative.

If there are additional representatives from the three safeguarding partners present at the meeting, any surplus representation must act only in a non-votingcapacity and not be a voting decision-maker. The voting decision-makers must be decided and noted ahead of any discussions around individual cases.

Non-voting panel members

All non-voting panel members must have undergone appropriate checks to be exposed to sensitive information in order to ensure the safeguarding and protection of the details of the individuals being discussed.

Individuals who act as an non-voting panel member can have undertaken training provided by the Home Office in order to understand decision-making processes, although this is not compulsory.

Individuals, either from the core safeguarding partners or from other partner agencies, may also attend the NRM panel as a non-voting panel member. Given the sensitive nature of the conversations taking place, consideration must be given to ensuring that non-voting panel members should only attend panels if they are able to make a clear contribution and have a clear purpose for being on the panel, either by providing evidence for decision-making, representing the voice of the potential victim, or having directly relevant child safeguarding and modern slavery expertise. Please see the ‘exclusions’ section of this guidance for more information on eligibility.

Exclusions

It may be inappropriate for some individuals or organisations to attend panel meetings in any capacity. For example, where attendees cannot offer a clear contribution or where their involvement could be perceived as a conflict of interest.

The types of individuals or organisations that may not be appropriate to attend include, but are not limited to:

• central government, unless the individual is or represents the first responder
• research institutions
• privately-owned organisations and/or businesses
• the potential victim’s friends or family members
• the potential victim themselves should not be present at decision-making

The panel chair must ensure, in advance of the NRM panel, that only appropriate voting decision-makers and non-voting panel members have been invited to attend. Where a panel chair is unsure whether an individual or organisation is an appropriate panel member, they should approach the Home Office for guidance at childmspilots@homeoffice.gov.uk well in advance of a panel.

Support and quality assurance

The Home Office offers a package of support to the pilot sites throughout the Pilot which includes funding, training and technical expertise.

One of the ways the Home Office ensures the standard and consistency of decisions are upheld is through robust training. It is important that the location of the child has no bearing on the quality of the decision they receive, and therefore individuals who participate in the decision making are required to undertake the appropriate training provided by the Home Office prior to participating in the decision-making panel.

The Home Office quality assure some of the decisions made by pilot sites. The approach taken is flexible and dependant on performance. As part of quality assurance, the Home Office may require the pilot site to review a decision and/or gather further information to enable a decision to be reviewed. Where this happens, the Home Office will provide an explanation of the reason the decision has not passed quality assurance and the pilot site will have ten working days to respond to the Home Office and set out how it will review and revise the decision.

For further information about the pilot sites please contact childmspilots@homeoffice.gov.uk.

Annex A: Case transfer guidance

This guidance will be applied to outstanding child NRM cases in the SCA that are in scope of the pilot, mainly those that were referred to the SCA prior to the relevant pilot site going live and resolved age dispute cases where it is confirmed the individual is a child more than 100 days away from their 18th birthday. These cases may be transferred to the appropriate pilot site to conclude the NRM decision.

Identifying cases in scope for transfer

The SCA will identify cases that are in scope and appropriate to be transferred to a pilot site for completion. The SCA will prioritise cases for transfer and no case will be transferred to a pilot site without consultation beforehand between the SCA and the pilot site. Where, following consultation with the pilot site, the SCA consider a case is not suitable for transfer, the pilot site will be notified accordingly.

In addition to referring the case to the relevant pilot site, the SCA will send a notification to any appropriate organisations involved in the child’s case to advise the case has now been transferred to a pilot site for completion of the NRM decision. Those appropriate organisations may include but are not limited to:

• the First Responder
• the child’s social worker
• the relevant police force (or Police Scotland’s National Human Trafficking Unit)

The Independent Child Trafficking Guardian in England and Wales, the Northern Ireland Independent Guardian Service or Scottish Guardianship Service in cases involving children where this provision is available and the SCA has been notified of their involvement.

Timescale for decisions

A pilot site must confirm receipt of a case that is transferred to them within two working days. The timescales for making a decision will begin from the date the pilot site receives the case.

Where a pilot site receives a case that still requires both a Reasonable Grounds decision and a Conclusive Grounds decision to be made, the expectation is that the pilot sites will make a Reasonable Grounds decision within 45 calendar days of the NRM referral being transferred to the pilot site and a Conclusive Grounds decision within 90 calendar days of the NRM referral being transferred to the pilot site.

Where a pilot site receives a case where a Reasonable Grounds decision has already been made, the expectation is that the relevant pilot site will make a Conclusive Grounds decision within 90 calendar days of the NRM referral being transferred to the pilot site .

Reconsiderations

Closed cases which are put forward to the SCA for reconsideration will in the first instance be considered for allocation to the authority who made the original decision. In exceptional circumstances, the closed case put forward for reconsideration may be allocated to an authority other than the authority who made the original decision, for example, if the safeguarding responsibility for the potential victim has changed, or other exceptional circumstances.

Other grounds for transferring cases

There are some other circumstances where the transfer of cases between pilot sites and the SCA and between the pilot sites themselves will be allowed. The SCA is responsible for the final decision on which cases should be transferred.

When a case within the pilot becomes out of scope of the pilot, the case will be reallocated from the pilot to the SCA to conclude decision-making. For example, a potential victim who is inside the scope of the pilot, but then whose safeguarding responsibility moves to a local authority outside the scope of the pilot, will no longer be in scope of the pilot, and the case will be reallocated to the SCA.

When a case outside of the pilot becomes in scope of the pilot, the case may be reallocated from the SCA to the pilot to conclude decision-making. For example, a potential victim who is outside the scope of the pilot and whose case is allocated to the SCA, but then whose safeguarding responsibility moves to a local authority inside the scope of the pilot, will be within scope of the pilot, and the case may be reallocated from the SCA to the appropriate pilot site.

Cases may also move between pilot sites to conclude decision-making if the potential victim’s safeguarding responsibility moves from one local authority within the pilot to another.

1. The term ‘Modern Slavery’ is an umbrella term that is used in England and Wales to refer to crimes of human trafficking, slavery, servitude and forced or compulsory labour. The term relates to the offences provided for in the Modern Slavery Act 2015, and the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Act 2015. ↩

2. In England and Wales, Section 48 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 made provision for Independent Child Trafficking Guardians in England and Wales, who’s role is to provide specialist independent support for trafficked children, and to advocate on behalf of the child to ensure that their best interests are reflected in decisions made by public authorities. Guidance is available here. ↩

3. In Scotland, children and young people who are or may have been trafficked, or at risk of trafficking, for whom no-one in the UK holds parental rights or responsibilities, are entitled to receive independent advocacy support of a guardian from the Independent Child Trafficking Guardian Service in Scotland. ↩

4. Local authorities have a statutory duty to safeguard child victims under section 47 of the Children Act 1989. The statutory duties for local authorities in Scotland are set out in a number of statutes, including the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968; Children (Scotland) Act 1995; Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014; all as referred to in and the National Guidance for Child Protection in Scotland 2014. The Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Act 2015 is the primary legislation that relates to responses and support for victims and prosecution of perpetrator of trafficking. ↩

5. The National Guidance for Child Protection in Scotland 2014 is non-statutory guidance which provides a framework for agencies and practitioners at a local level to agree processes for working together to safeguard and promote child wellbeing and is a resource for practitioners on specific areas of practice and key issues in child protection. ↩

6. Getting it right for every child (GIRFEC) is the Scottish Government policy aimed at supporting children and families by ensuring children and young people receive the right help, at the right time, from the right people. The GIRFEC approach aims to support children and young people so that they can grow up feeling loved, safe and respected and can realise their full potential. ↩

7. Local authorities have a statutory duty to safeguard child victims under section 47 of the Children Act 1989. In Scotland, the Pilot Programme will operate in line with existing devolved legislation and legislative provisions regarding child protection, safeguarding, and criminal justice processes which will continue to apply as outlined in National Guidance for Child Protection in Scotland 2014. ↩

8. In England and Wales this is in line with published guidance which sets out that either the ICTG Direct Worker or ICTG Regional Practice Coordinator must be invited and provided with the opportunity to take part in all meetings and discussions which relate to and impact upon the child. ↩