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The £60bn wake-up call: why we must rethink the fight against modern slavery

Record numbers of modern slavery potential victims are being identified, yet police investigations are falling. Andrew Wallis OBE, CEO of Unseen, argues we must follow the money to break the cycle.

The statistics are stark:

In 2024, the UK’s National Referral Mechanism (NRM) identified a record 19,125 potential victims of modern slavery, a 13% increase on the previous year. Yet, as the scale of human misery grows, the system designed to protect victims and pursue perpetrators is buckling under financial strain and shortsighted politics. 

Modern slavery is not only a profound moral crime; it is also a significant and escalating economic burden. The annual socio-economic cost in the UK is estimated at £52–60bn —around 2% of GDP. This figure equates to the cost of building around 50 new hospitals or 750 new schools. Each victim incurs a cost of nearly £450,000, reflecting not only the direct harms they endure but also the wider social and economic impacts. 

The pressure on policing is already unsustainable. As outlined in our new report The economic cost of modern slavery: policing, in 2024 alone, modern slavery cost UK police forces approximately £210m – a 141% rise since 2018. This is equivalent to employing 7,500 extra officers. Despite record-high NRM referrals, the number of active police investigations has fallen by 18% since 2022. 

This loss of momentum is no coincidence. Since 2019/20, national leadership and targeted funding have diminished. Furthermore, the political narrative has increasingly conflated modern slavery with Organised Immigration Crime (OIC). This is not only flawed but also dangerous: border control and victim protection are distinct priorities. Confusing the two undermines both—and data show that British nationals were the most common nationality referred (23% of all potential victims in 2024). 

Perhaps the greatest missed opportunity is in not treating modern slavery as the economic crime it truly is. Globally, trafficking generates vast illicit profits. Yet in 2024, assets recovered under the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) in connection with modern slavery amounted to just £854,000 – barely 0.4% of the estimated annual policing cost. This weak recovery reflects a tendency to pursue “easier to prove” charges under other legislation rather than complex Modern Slavery Act prosecutions. The outcome: lighter sentences, missed financial disruption, and victims denied formal recognition of their suffering. 

To reverse this trend, immediate and decisive action is necessary. A new national modern slavery strategy must clearly distinguish the response to modern slavery and human trafficking from OIC. Financial investigation should be prioritised as a strategic tool, disrupting criminal networks at their source. POCA-recovered funds from modern slavery cases must be ring-fenced to bolster survivor support and policing capacity. Additionally, specialist mechanisms such as specialist case workers or victim navigators should be implemented nationally to maintain victim engagement in complex investigations.

We have the laws and the expertise to act. What is missing is the consistent political will to enforce them and the strategic resolve to follow the money. Unless we confront the economic reality of modern slavery, we will continue paying the price – in public finances, in lost productivity, and most critically, in human suffering. 

What next? 

Read our new report on The economic cost of modern slavery: policing and see our key recommendations for change. 

Join our newsletter to stay up to date with the latest news and developments at Unseen. 

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Justine Currell

As I came to understand more about the issue, including through a visit to an Unseen safehouse, I knew I needed to do more to stop this abuse and exploitation.

For the last five years of my Civil Service career, I was the Modern Slavery Senior Policy Advisor in the Home Office and led on development of the Modern Slavery Act, including the transparency in supply chains provision and business guidance.

I joined Unseen to lead the development of the Modern Slavery & Exploitation Helpline, and Unseen’s work with businesses. I am regularly called upon to present at national and international conferences and use my experience of working with Ministers to influence other governments internationally to take action to address modern slavery and, in particular, business supply chain issues.

In my spare time I enjoy keeping fit, music, reading and travelling.

Andrew Wallis

What ultimately compelled me to act was a report on how people from Eastern Europe were being trafficked through Bristol airport to the USA. Kate Garbers, who went on to be an Unseen Director, and I wrote to all the city councillors, MPs and the Police Chief Constable challenging them on the issue. The challenge came back to us: this city needs safe housing for trafficked women. And so Unseen began.

But we never wanted Unseen to be just about safe housing. We wanted to end slavery once and for all, and that remains our driving focus.

I chaired the working group for the Centre for Social Justice’s landmark report “It Happens Here: Equipping the United Kingdom to Fight Modern Slavery”. This is now acknowledged as the catalyst behind the UK’s Modern Slavery Act of 2015. It was a great honour to be awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours that year. On the other hand, I’ve also been described as “the loveliest disrupter you could ever hope to meet”.

This job has taken me from building flat-pack furniture for safehouses, to working with businesses to address slavery in supply chains, to delivering training, raising awareness and advising governments around the world.

When not at work, I enjoy travelling, spending time with my dog Harley, cooking, supporting Liverpool and Yorkshire CC, music (I’m a former DJ) and endurance events such as the Three Peaks Challenge and Tribe Freedom Runs – which I vow never to do again. Until the next time.