An investigation has revealed that cases of modern slavery reported within the UK care industry have more than doubled in the past year.
The investigation by the BBC’s File on 4 programme, to be broadcast this evening, found that there were 109 potential modern slavery victims, exploited for personal or financial gain, between January and March. This was twice as many as the same period in 2022.
The programme obtained the figures from the government-approved anti-slavery helpline, run by the charity Unseen.
Investigators trying to protect workers from being exploited say the care industry is now a “top priority”. The Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA), which works to protect workers from labour exploitation across the UK, told the BBC it had more than 300 ongoing care sector investigations.
According to Unseen, the rise in calls about modern slavery within the care sector in the past 12 months is because the government has made it easier for overseas social care staff to work in the UK post-Brexit and fill the thousands of vacancies in that sector.
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In the year to March, the government issued 102,000 skilled worker, health and care visas to foreign workers, an increase of 171% on the previous year. In a statement, it told File on 4 that more than £17.8 million had been spent policing modern slavery since 2016.
The programme heard from one woman who came to the UK on a work visa and was forced to work gruelling hours as a carer. “Terri” (not her real name) said she was recruited as a home carer after replying to an advert in her own country in Africa.
The agency told her it would arrange her work visa and transport and promised her that she would earn up to £29,000. However, she ended up working up to 20 hours a day, often seven days a week. A car she had been promised to travel between clients did not materialise, so she had to walk to appointments.
When Terri eventually received her wages from the company two months later, it worked out at less than £2 an hour. Care workers (aged 23 or over) must be paid at least the national living wage of £10.42 for their time at appointments, plus travel time to and from the office.
She complained to the care company, which threatened to stop her work and cancel her visa. Her low pay also meant she was unable to continue paying rent for her mother and children, who were having to live in privately rented accommodation.
Terri was on a night shift while her mother and children spent the night on the streets. They were spotted by a member of the public and Terri was reported to social services.
Social services helped Terri get placed in the National Referral Mechanism, the government system set up to identify and support victims of modern slavery, and she and her family are now in accommodation provided by social services. She is also now seeking asylum in the UK.
“Victims of modern slavery are extremely vulnerable,” Sara Thornton, the former Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner told the programme.
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“They will be in terror of the people who’ve trafficked or enslaved them, who will tell them there’s no point going to the police or the local authority or a charity because they won’t support you,” she added.
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