UK Home Office unit refused 79% of slavery claims and interviewed no potential victims
The Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration's report to Parliament (December 2024, covering January-June 2024) on the Home Office's Immigration Enforcement Competent Authority (IECA), which decides modern-slavery claims for foreign national offenders and people in immigration detention, found that it had conducted no interviews of potential victims between November 8, 2021 and June 1, 2024. Its second-stage Conclusive Grounds decisions went from 82% positive in 2022 to 70% negative in 2023 and 79% negative in the first five months of 2024; in February 2024, 68% of the 1,192 people awaiting such a decision had waited over a year. In 2023, 53% of first-stage and 42% of second-stage reconsideration requests overturned the unit's negative decisions, and the inspector found its quality assurance did not take sufficient account of the impact of poor decisions, and its safeguarding response 'under-developed' and 'under-resourced'.
'The IECA confirmed that between 8 November 2021 and 1 June 2024 it had not conducted any interviews of potential victims.' 'In 2022, 82% were positive. In 2023, 70% were negative, and this increased to 79% in the five months to May 2024.'
Home Office response published December 11, 2024 accepted five of the inspector's recommendations and partially accepted two.
No outcome recorded yet.