Yasmin Qureshi Labour Member of Parliament for Bolton South and Walkden

In December last year, we learnt, through a Home Office newsletter, that the Government was going to scrap the ‘Places of Safety’ scheme and abandon its commitment to provide 12 months of support to confirmed victims of modern slavery.
In my view, we need a system that finds victims, protects them, supports them and helps them to rebuild their lives. I am deeply concerned, however, that this is not happening, and that these two policy changes are only going to make the situation worse.
Already, we are seeing delays in decision making, and victims becoming stuck in the National Referral Mechanism process.
I am also worried that those in need receive a varying quality of care – and, for those confirmed as victims, there are few meaningful support mechanisms. We must not understate the impact that this can have on their mental health.
I also believe that support for victims is central to successful convictions. Proper support enables them to engage in the prosecution of traffickers.
As such, on 8 February, I wrote to the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Safeguarding, Laura Farris, and raised these concerns with her.
On 14 March, I received a reply from Ms Farris. I have posted copies of these letter below for you to see.



Sadly, the Minister has stood by the Home Office’s decision to scrap the ‘Places of Safety’ scheme and end its promise to guarantee 12 months of support to victims of modern slavery.
The Director of ‘After Exploitation’, Maya Esslemont, has described the ‘Places of Safety’ scheme as “vital” in helping survivors of modern slavery in the first few days after leaving exploitation. I fear that ending this scheme will make it harder for victims to get into the system and receive help.
Although the Minister does not say it in her letter to me, the Home Office has said that this scheme was cut because of a lack of funding. As I said to the Minister, how then can the Government guarantee that victims will receive the care that they need, when they are having to cut this scheme and abandon their pledge of 12 months of support?
I can assure you that I will continue to follow developments in this area closely and advocate for a system that meets victims’ needs.