More than 1,000 modern slavery victims discovered in Britain last year, report says

Spiralling numbers ‘having a huge impact on overstretched council services’, LGA chairman says

The number of referrals has risen by 800 per cent in five years (Getty/iStock)

More than 1,000 potential modern slavery victims were found in the UK last year, according to new research.

The number of victims referred by councils soared by 800 per cent in five years, the Local Government Association said as it called for more funding to combat the issue.

Councils report concerns about potential slavery victims through a scheme known as the national referral mechanism (NRM) - a programme that helps identify and support victims.

Local authorities made 127 NRM referrals in 2014.

By last year, the number of reports had leapt to 1,152. Ninety two per cent of these referrals concerned children.

“The spiralling rate of council referrals is having a huge impact on overstretched council services, particularly children’s services,” said Simon Blackburn, the chair of the LGA’s safer and stronger communities board. “Extra funding next year will help but government needs to ensure councils have adequate long-term resources to tackle this abuse and support its victims.”

The organisation said young people were increasingly being exploited by county lines drug gangs, an issue which contributed to the rising numbers.

County lines activity sees gangs traffic drugs into rural areas, frequently using children and teenagers to deal the substances.

An LGA spokesperson said children were particularly at risk from modern slavery.

According to the national crime agency, modern slavery referrals concerning minors rose by 67 per cent from 2017 to 2018.

The LGA said this demonstrated the pressures on children’s services, housing and adult social care.

A spokesperson pointed out that no specific funding is given to councils to assist modern slavery victims and called on the government to provide long term funding.

Campaigners previously told The Independent that exploitation also occurs in farms, car washes and nail bars.

Emily Kenway, senior advisor at Focus on Labour Exploitation (FLEX), said that considering the UK’s “woeful failure” to fund labour inspection adequately, it was not a surprise that exploitation was “rife and rising”.

She added that, while the increase was in a sense positive because it showed police were recognising that county lines drug running may include victims of trafficking, “more must be done to prevent exploitation from occurring in the first place”.

Additional reporting by agencies