Tackling modern slavery is 'priority', Lincolnshire Police force says

Lincolnshire Police dealt with 114 potential modern slavery victims over the last year

Tackling modern slavery is a "priority" for Lincolnshire Police, the force has pledged, after cases in the county almost doubled in a year.

The force investigated 114 potential modern slavery victims, including 64 children, in the year from July 2022, according to new Home Office figures.

In the same period the previous year there were 66 cases, figures showed.

A spokesperson for the Lincolnshire force said it had been "working hard to raise awareness" of the issue.

Anti-modern slavery charities have raised concerns about whether enough support was being provided by police forces to victims.

A spokesperson for Lincolnshire Police told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: "Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking (MSHT) is a force priority.

"We have been working hard to raise awareness of MSHT, particularly in regard to identifying victims in a variety of areas such as county lines, forced labour, child sexual exploitation and child criminal exploitation."

Lincolnshire Police was "working hard to raise awareness" of modern slavery, a spokesperson said

The Lincolnshire force also took part in local and national initiatives "to tackle issues and fill intelligence gaps", the spokesperson said.

"While the force does not have dedicated teams for MSHT, they have trained detectives within the Protecting Vulnerable People and Criminal Investigation Department units who investigate such crimes, supported by the Safeguarding Hub and crime support functions."

Lincolnshire Police has carried out county lines operations to disrupt drug networks and safeguard vulnerable young people who may be victims of modern slavery.

However, the East Midlands Special Operations Unit, which covers Lincolnshire, was criticised by inspectors earlier this year for not focusing enough on modern issues like human trafficking, modern slavery and child sexual exploitation.

Andrew Wallis, chief executive of anti-slavery charity Unseen, highlighted the scale of the problem, saying at any one time in the UK, "somewhere in excess of 120,000 victims of modern slavery are in a situation of exploitation".

Mr Wallis added: "Until every police force, officer, statutory agency and society as a whole understands what modern slavery looks like, we will never be able to say we have a true picture of the size and scope of modern slavery."

A Home Office spokesperson said: "We are reforming our response to modern slavery to make the system more robust and ensure genuine victims are supported."