Welcome to day one of National Safeguarding Adults Week. Cumbria Safeguarding Adults Board are working in collaboration with the National Safeguarding Adults Board Network and Ann Craft Trust to raise awareness of abuse and neglect. Each day this week will focus on a specific theme when we will provide you with information and signpost to resources for further learning. Today's key theme is Modern Slavery.
What is the National picture?
In 2018 in the UK there were a total of 6993 Referrals of Modern Slavery via the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) were submitted. This included 25 from Cumbria.
Data confirms the top nationalities referred into the National Referral Mechanism were Romanian and Vietnamese, with British Citizens listed further down.
However, due to the increase in human trafficking in County Lines, Britain is now top of the list in children being trafficked around the UK!
Cumbria Safeguarding Adults Board have previously issued a 5-minute briefing to raise awareness of this growing problem – find out what Modern Slavery is, the legislation and how to recognise the signs here.
Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking in Cumbria
Modern Slavery in Cumbria is on the increase, with over 200 reports in the last year around concerns of people being exploited in various forms. In particular, agricultural “forced labour” reports have increased.
Agricultural forced labour is harder to observe due to the rural nature of our county and some of the farm properties being in isolated areas.
Forced labour around Car Washes and Nail Bars is still an ongoing concern, with regular checks being done on premises in Cumbria to ensure people are working as a choice and not being forced.
Checks continue on premises where there is a possibility of sex working, or other types of exploitation. A joint agency approach is often applied with Cumbria Constabulary working alongside Immigration, Housing, and Safeguarding services.
Cumbria Anti-Slavery Partnership
CSAB, CSCP and Safer Cumbria are developing guidance for staff when dealing with cases of Modern Slavery which includes information relating to; National Referral Mechanism (NRM), guidance for statutory organisations, Duty to Notify and Support for Victims. This will be launched in the coming months.
What are CSAB doing?
CSAB in partnership with Safer Cumbria and Cumbria Safeguarding Children’s Partnership (CSCP) have commissioned multi-agency train the trainer sessions to equip staff with the knowledge and skills to disseminate Modern Slavery Awareness training within their own organisations. This will be through face-to-face bite size lunch time learning or via teameetings.
Training is taking place today and we expect to have up to 50 staff trained to share this essential learning. Contact us to find out who in your organisation can share this training csab@cumbria.gov.uk
E-learning
CSAB Learning & Development group will launch later this month an e-learning module to raise awareness and improve understanding of Modern Slavery. This will be widely accessible and available through Cumbria County Council’s My Learning platform. Sign up to ensure you receive updates and watch this space….
What to do do if you suspect Modern Slavery
Call the Police on 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or call the Modern Slavery Helpline or the Salvation Army 24 hour Referral Helpline 0300 303 8151
Support the fight against Modern Slavery
Download these apps available for your mobile phone to support the fight against Modern Slavery happening here in Cumbria.
You can use the Unseen App to make a report if you suspect Modern Slavery is happeing
The Safe Car Wash app is a new tool that will enable the largest community intelligence gathering exercise ever attempted in the United Kingdom.
Download the free app onto your smartphone. When you are using a hand car wash, simply open the app and complete a short survey about the working conditions of the car wash.
