The Home Office commissioned Ipsos UK to conduct a process evaluation of the pilot to devolve (the transfer of decision-making from central to local level) the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) decision-making on modern slavery for children from the Home Office to local authorities across 10 pilot sites. The pilot commenced on 14 June 2021, the evaluation covers the first year of the pilot.

The aims of the evaluation were to:

• Enable the Home Office to identify the different ways in which devolving the NRM decision-making was implemented locally.
• Provide evidence that will help the Home Office understand the commitment (in terms of cost and time requirements) and benefits that this change of policy will have on local authorities.

The evaluation concentrated on the local delivery of devolving decision-making and the effect it has had on local authorities and other stakeholders, including stakeholders’ perceptions of the impact (effects experienced as a result) on affected children.