‘Tens of thousands’ suffering in slavery, warns watchdog

THE scale of modern slavery in Britain has been vastly underestimated, a watchdog has warned.

Kevin Hyland, the independent antislavery commissioner, described an official estimate suggesting there are up to 13,000 potential victims as “far too modest”. Instead, he put the true number in the “tens of thousands”.

Modern slavery covers a range of offences including forced labour or criminality, domestic servitude and human trafficking.

The most often cited official estimate for the extent of the problem suggested there were 10,000 to 13,000 potential modern slavery victims in the UK in 2013. Mr Hyland said of the figure, which was published in 2014 by the Home Office: “I deem this far too modest, with the true number in the tens of thousands.”

His comments chime with an assessment from the National Crime Agency, which warned earlier this year that modern slavery and human trafficking in the UK is much more prevalent than previously thought, with cases affecting every large town and city.

Yesterday the commissioner published his annual report for 2016-17. In it he described how victims of modern slavery suffer “immeasurable trauma”, writing: “In few other crimes are human beings used as commodities over and over again. It is a human evil, horrifying in its inhumanity.”

Mr Hyland’s previous annual report highlighted how failings in crime recording meant investigations were not being launched, criminals were not being found, and victims were left enslaved. But in his latest report, Mr Hyland said: “I can confidently say that we have seen a shift.”

The commissioner flagged up figures showing in 2016-17, forces in England and Wales recorded 2,255 modern slavery offences – a rise of 159 per cent on the previous year. Over the same period, there were 3,871 referrals to the National Referral Mechanism.