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Charge rates for modern slavery offences have dropped every year since the in England and Wales since the Modern Slavery Act was introduced, an investigation by NationalWorld has revealed.

Nottinghamshire is one of the top 10 police forces in England and Wales for people being charged with modern slavery offences, even though the force has only brought 45 charges from 478 cases since numbers began back in 2015-16 – a charge rate of 9.8 per cent.

Overall, people traffickers, slavers and criminal exploiters are only charged by police in a tiny minority of cases, leaving victims “hugely dispirited” and potentially emboldening perpetrators, NationalWorld can reveal.

The 2015 Modern Slavery Act was introduced to crack down on people traffickers amid a growing awareness of the widespread nature of modern slavery and serious exploitation, allowing for judges to give out life sentences.

Nottinghamshire Police is one of the top 10 forces in the country for modern slavery charges even though it has only charged 45 people in the last eight years

Common offences include women being trafficked for sex work and fruit and vegetables pickers effectively kept in indentured labour.

But figures released for each police force in the country reveals a continued fall in the number of charges being brought for people trafficking, slavery and criminal explotation each year.

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For Nottinghamshire, the first year of figures recorded, 2015-16 showed a 100 per cent charge rate from the two cases brought.

However, this dropped to just 22 per cent over both the next two years and then to just 4.4 per cent in 2018-19 when only six charges were brought from 41 cases.

In 2019-20, eight charges were brought from 93 cases – a rate of 8.6 per cent – but this almost halved for the following year when only six charges were brought from 133 cases.

In 2021-22, 11 charges were brought from 103 cases – a rate of 10.7 per cent and so far in 2022-23, there have 51 cases and five charges brought.

The data includes all crimes investigated under the 2015 Modern Slavery Act, under which the primary offences are slavery, human trafficking and committing any other crime with the intention of committing a modern slavery or trafficking offence.

There are also other offences such as breaching a slavery/trafficking prevention or risk order, but people smuggling, which is a different concept in law, is not included.

Detective Inspector Nikki Smith, from Nottinghamshire Police, said: “Combatting modern slavery remains a priority for Nottinghamshire Police and I’m really proud of the big leaps forward we have taken over the last two years which has led to us increasing our charging for these types of offences.

“I’m really pleased Nottinghamshire Police is in the top seven forces in England and Wales for people being charged with modern slavery offences.

“That reflects all the really hard work we do as a force to thoroughly investigate any intelligence and reports we receive, respond to concerns, and bring offenders to justice.

“We act positively on any reports of modern slavery that come to us. Nottinghamshire Police has a dedicated modern slavery team who work very closely with partner agencies to investigate and respond to concerns regarding anyone who is potentially a victim of modern day slavery.

“I would urge anyone with concerns regarding someone being exploited to contact the police or the Modern Slavery Helpline on 0800 012 1700.”

Nottinghamshire one of the top 10 forces for modern slavery charges in England and Wales