Thursday 13th November 2025

Newly published Home Office National Referral Mechanism (NRM) data shows that the pilot scheme that transfers decision making about potential child victims of trafficking from central government to local authorities has been positive. Gaps remain for children outside of pilot areas as well as those deemed not admissible within the pilots. 

The scheme was launched by the Home Office following our joint report with the Office of the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner on what works in multi-agency decision-making frameworks in June 2021 and transfers NRM decision-making to local safeguarding partners. Initially operating in 10 pilot sites, it now covers 20 sites across 30 local authorities in England, Scotland and Wales, with a further seven areas preparing to join from November 2025. 

The latest data for the first three quarters of 2025 also show that a significant number of children continue to fall outside the scope of the pilots. Of the total 4,912 child referrals to the NRM during this period, only 799 (or around 16%) were considered within pilot areas. This means that the vast majority of children identified as potential victims of trafficking are still having their cases decided centrally by the Home Office rather than by local multi-agency safeguarding panels.

The data presented for the year January 2024 –September 2025 suggests that giving power to local authorities leading multi-agency decision making panels to decide on NRM referrals, has a positive impact on the quality of decision making and its timeliness for children. This can be seen across the number of positive decisions and the average time to get a decision. In 2024, there was a rate of 10.04% for pilot made negative reasonable grounds decision, compared to 22% for decisions made by the Home Office. The pattern continued in the first three quarters of 2025, with some narrowing of the gap as children assessed in the pilot areas receiving negative decisions at a rate of 12.39% compared to the 16.31% rate in non-pilot areas. 

A previous evaluation of the devolved decision making pilots found one of the key positive impacts of the pilots is the significant reduction in average time taken for children to obtain final decisions on their cases. The statistics for the first three quarters of 2025 show that the average time taken to reach a reasonable grounds decision is higher in the devolved pilot areas, but that the panels continue to demonstrate a quicker decision making for the final conclusive grounds decision. In 2025, the average for a child’s case to reach a final decision was 132 days for pilot areas as opposed to 350 days for children in non-pilot areas. 

Even in pilot areas, some children remain excluded under current Home Office guidance. Children within 100 days of their 18th birthday, those with disputed ages, and those being considered for Public Order Disqualification do not qualify for their cases being heard by the devolved panels. These groups are among the most vulnerable, often with complex exploitation histories or criminal records linked to their abuse. Their continued exclusion highlights the uneven reach of the pilot and the need for a full national rollout to ensure that all child victims benefit from timely, informed, and multi-agency decisions.

As the pilot enters its next phase of expansion, lessons must be learned from the clear benefits in the speed and quality of decisions for children when responsibility lies with local safeguarding professionals, particularly as government is looking at reforming the NRM. All child victims of trafficking should benefit from the same multi agency approach. The coming year will be a critical test of whether the government is prepared to build on the pilot’s early successes and deliver a truly national model of child-centred decision-making.

ENDS

Notes to Editors

1. For media enquiries, please contact: [email protected]
2. ECPAT UK and IASC initial review - Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner and ECPAT UK launch review into multi-agency decision making
3. Devolving child decision-making pilot programme statistics can be found here
4. Home office evaluation report on the pilots can be found here.