In Autumn 2020, we launched two competed grants processes: (a) one to continue the delivery of the ICTG service in the Early Adopter Sites and (b) one to deliver the ICTG service in additional sites, and therefore expand the service to two thirds of local authorities across England and Wales.

Following a thorough evaluation process, Barnardo’s was identified as the successful bidder of both competitions. We are working closely with Barnardo’s to continue delivery of the service in existing sites and to mobilise the service in the following additional areas:

London (except for the Borough of Croydon where the service is already available), Essex, West Yorkshire, Merseyside, Kent, Surrey, Warwickshire, Bedfordshire, North Yorkshire, Gloucestershire and Bristol, and Lancashire. We anticipate that the new service will go live in late Spring and we will provide further updates ahead of this.

In this phase of the ICTG rollout, we will test implementing three recommendations made by the Independent Review of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 in some additional and Early Adopter Sites:

• Removing the 18-month limit for ICTG support to ensure the support provided is based on the individual needs of the child rather than being time limited. This change will be implemented in all ICTG sites.
• Enabling those children who need it, to continue to receive ICTG support following their 18th birthday.
• Allowing children who have a figure of parental responsibility for them in the UK to access one-to-one support where there is an exceptional need.

Further details on how these recommendations will be tested and in which areas, will be made available in late Spring.

The continued rollout of the service will include a built-in evaluation of these changes to ensure we have a service model that delivers needs-based support for child victims of modern slavery.

If you have any questions or are interested to know more about the next phase of the ICTG roll out please email us [email protected].