News & Updates

MSU Newsletter – 8th July 2020

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This newsletter provides an update on:

 

The temporary change to the policy on the ‘move-on’ period
In line with Public Health England guidance in response to COVID-19, a temporary change to the policy on the ‘move on period’ was made for individuals in Victim Care Contract (VCC) accommodation, to ensure people remained in their homes and did not travel any more than was necessary. The temporary policy guidance was in place from 6 April for a three-month period.

This policy will remain in place for a further period of one month to the 6 August 2020. This is a transitional period and from 6 August, the move on periods and processes set out in the Modern Slavery Act 2015: Statutory Guidance for England and Wales will resume as normal. The transitional period should be utilised to resume move on planning for relevant individuals currently residing in VCC accommodation. More information can be found here.

Support workers and decision makers will continue to consider government advice on moving home during COVID-19, the impacts of COVID-19 on the availability of other services, and the safety/security of individuals as part of both the Recovery Needs Assessment and extension requests process.

First Responder training
Last week, the Home Office released an online modern slavery training module for all First Responders. The aim of the training is to provide all First Responders with a consistent level of knowledge to enable them to effectively identify and refer, where appropriate, potential victims of modern slavery to the National Referral Mechanism. We worked with representatives from different First Responder Organisations and colleagues from Devolved Administrations and we are extremely grateful for their contribution.

All First Responders are encouraged to consider this module as part of their basic training. However, given that all First Responder organisations are different and have different training needs, it will be up to them to determine how this module fits in and complements their bespoke modern slavery training practices.

The module is available on the Modern Slavery and Organised Immigration Crime (MSOIC) Unit website.

We are keen to receive feedback on the module, to enable us to continue to review its the effectiveness and make updates where required. Please send any comments to [email protected].

Tackling Child Exploitation Support Programme Sector Survey
Policy officials from the Department for Education have asked us to alert you to the Tackling Child Exploitation Support Programme (TCESP) Year 2 Sector Survey, available at: https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/8Z6DAL/

The Tackling Child Exploitation (TCE) Support Programme is funded by the Department of Education and being delivered by a consortium made up of Research in Practice, The Children’s Society and the University of Bedfordshire.

The Programme aims to support local areas to respond to child exploitation and harm from outside the family home, including child sexual exploitation, child criminal exploitation and county lines drug trafficking.

The survey aims to help the consortium partners ensure that the programme reflects the children’s social care (and partners) sector’s needs and priorities and is undertaken annually.

It should take no more than 15 minutes to complete. Note that all survey responses are stored securely, and you will not be asked for any identifying information.  Data will be aggregated by the programme so that responses cannot be linked to individuals.  Please note that by completing the survey you will be giving your consent for your answers to be used in this way, and survey data cannot be withdrawn.

If you have any queries about the survey, or any problems in accessing or completing, please contact Vicki Collinge at the University of Bedfordshire at [email protected]

The survey will be open until 9am on Monday 20th July 2020. The TCESP will be monitoring responses and may send out reminders prior to this date.

Further information about the TCE Support Programme can be found on the website here https://tce.researchinpractice.org.uk/

Hidden Harms Summit Report
The Prime Minister hosted a virtual summit focused on ‘hidden harms’ on 21 May 2020 at Downing Street. This was in response to expert insight and some data to suggest an increase in the risk of crimes such as child sexual abuse, domestic abuse and modern slavery, and an anticipated increase in reporting of these crimes as lockdown restrictions are eased.

The summit aimed to highlight issues and seek to reassure victims and the public, that government, law enforcement and other safeguarding partners and charities are doing all they can to safeguard vulnerable people.

Following the Hidden Harms Summit, the Home Office has published a report which contains a number of immediate next steps the Government is taking to respond to the issues raised. This report can be found here.

Crimestoppers #SlaveryonYourDoorstep campaign
Crimestoppers launched the #SlaveryonYourDoorstep campaign on 24 June 2020 which is running for 3 weeks. This social media campaign aims to raise awareness of labour exploitation within different sectors and promote the signs to spot. As the lockdown eases and businesses reopen, they are asking the public to be aware of the signs to spot and to report their suspicions anonymously using the Crimestoppers anonymous online form or by calling a free phoneline.

You can find more information on how to get involved and promote this campaign here.
Finally, you can sign up here to be added to the mailing list. If you have any queries about this update or you have any feedback that you would like us to reflect on for future newsletters, please let us know at [email protected].