To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to help prevent homeless people becoming victims of modern slavery.
Answered on
8 July 2019
Tackling slavery remains a priority for this Government. We are committed to ending slavery in all its forms and supporting victims into accommodation where necessary so that they can rebuild their lives.
The Government takes the issue of modern slavery and homelessness very seriously and recognises there is a risk of those sleeping rough being vulnerable to trafficking. Because of this, in October 2018, the Home Office and Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) hosted a roundtable on modern slavery and homelessness, as part of MHCLG’s commitment in their rough sleeping strategy to raise the profile of this complex issue at the national level.
We’re also investing £1.2bn to tackle homelessness, including our bold Rough Sleeping Strategy, backed by £100m of funding, as well as empowering councils to build more council homes to ensure everyone has a safe and secure home.
Following advice from the Rough Sleeping Advisory Panel (which includes experts from homelessness charities and local government), the Government committed in its strategy to introduce new packages of training for frontline staff working with those who sleep rough, including victims of modern slavery. The training will provide participants with an improved awareness of modern slavery, how to identify potential victims, the issues and characteristics victims of modern slavery may present with and an understanding of how best to support a victim to prevent or relieve their homelessness.