Secure Reporting is a set of principles, practices and procedures which ensure that when people report being a victim or witness of a crime to a public authority their personal data is not shared with the Home Office or Immigration Enforcement.

The sharing of personal data with the Home Office can have serious and far-reaching consequences for people with insecure immigration status. It can and does lead to victims being detained, removed, or deported, or to children being separated from their families and placed into care.

As a result, many people with insecure immigration status are deterred from reporting crimes or safeguarding concerns—such as labour abuse, modern slavery, trafficking, forced labour, debt bondage, wage theft, unsafe working conditions and sexual exploitation. These fears are actively exploited by perpetrators, who use the threat of deportation or immigration enforcement as a tool of control.

This briefing, compiled by members of the Labour Exploitation Advisory Group (LEAG), explains what Secure Reporting is and why it’s so desperately needed.