The government has announced £25 million to roll out the Independent Child Trafficking Guardians (ICTG) service to all local authorities in England and Wales, providing specialist support for child survivors of modern slavery, trafficking and exploitation.

• In the year to March 2025, guardians helped 2,730 potential child victims of modern slavery, up 10% from the previous year, with more than half UK nationals and most victims of criminal exploitation such as county lines drug trafficking
• The ICTG service, delivered by Barnardo’s since 2017, currently covers 160 local authorities across two thirds of England and Wales; the new funding will extend it to the remaining 179 local authorities in England over the next four years
• Guardians provide a range of support including accompanying children to appointments, advocating for their health needs, helping them access legal or immigration experts and navigating the criminal justice system

Last year a record 23,411 individuals were referred to the National Referral Mechanism, the UK’s system for identifying potential victims of modern slavery, with 30% of referrals more than 7,000 being children, over half of them UK nationals