The Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner (IASC) is an independent monitoring body of the Home Office and was introduced to provide oversight to the requirements of Part 4 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015. The commissioner works directly with charities and statutory agencies such as the NHS, Police and immigration agencies in the UK.

The commissioner’s role includes:

• Encouraging good practice in prevention
• Improving victim care, support and identification
• Supporting law enforcement in investigations and prosecutions
• Detecting modern slavery offences
• Research and innovation

Many initiatives have been undertaken to address concerns of effectiveness of traditional modern slavery and human trafficking initiatives. These include reforming the National Referral Mechanism, training 1,200 judges to improve sentencing and training law enforcement officers to identify victims.

The IASC is supported by the Commissioner’s Advisory Panel, comprised of a diverse body of experts from a range of industries, who provide guidance, constructive feedback and support for her actions. They meet quarterly with some noteworthy names including the Rt Hon. The Baroness Butler-Sloss GBE, the highest-ranking female judge in the UK before retirement and Sir Bernard Silverman FRS, a professor in modern slavery statistics at the University of Nottingham.

The IASC has also been heavily involved in addressing financial services and investor audiences about practical steps to address modern slavery risks in their industry. This culminated in the 2021 report “Preventing Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking: an agenda for action across the financial sector” publishing five recommendations for the industry.

The current IASC is Dame Sara Thornton DBE QPM with extensive experience in various police departments in the UK. She was awarded the Queen’s Police medal in 2006 and made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2011 and was the chair of the National Police Chiefs Council from 2015-2019.

The Commissioner’s Role:

“To encourage good practice in the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of slavery and human trafficking offences, as well as in the identification of victims.”

The Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner is a UK government funded body.