Executive summary i. The act essentially covers England and Wales, although some provisions apply in Scotland and Northern Ireland as well.
The Modern Slavery Act 2015i, as well as the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Act 2015 and Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Criminal Justice and Support For Victims) Act (Northern Ireland) 2015, has gone some way to addressing the multifaceted and widespread phenomenon of modern slavery, but several challenges remain, particularly with regards to trafficked children. Although there is not enough data to fully convey the scale of child trafficking in the UK, we do know the number of potential victims identified is rising year on year. A staggering 4,946 children were recognised as potential victims of exploitation in the UK in 2020 (an almost 10% increase on the previous year). In response to this, the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner (IASC) and Cumberland Lodge held a crosssector conference, Practitioner Responses to Child Trafficking: Emerging Good Practice, in October 2021. The conference brought together practitioners, academics, policymakers, and representatives from wider civil society, as well as survivor organisations, for candid conversations about the role of practitioner evidence in responding to child exploitation in the UK. Some contributors were invited to take part following their response to the pre-conference call for evidence, allowing practitioners, academics and policymakers to share best practice. There was a clear consensus across many practitioners that the current response is failing those who are vulnerable to, and are victims of, child trafficking. Nevertheless, there are numerous examples and models of best practice operating throughout the United Kingdom, which have the potential to be scaled up and replicated across all local areas. Although many of these initiatives were a response to different areas of need, a number of core values linked these practices together. These values need to be entrenched into every sector that responds to victims of child trafficking, and to young people generally. It was agreed that a child-centred, or public health approach, would be the most effective whole system response to child trafficking and modern slavery. Modern slavery is an outcome 3
