About the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner

The Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner is Eleanor Lyons.

Eleanor began her three-year term as Commissioner in December 2023. The Modern Slavery Act 2015 established the role and remit of the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner and its statutory functions and powers.

The Commissioner’s role is independent from Government and is to ‘encourage good practice sharing’ amongst all those with a role to play in tackling every aspect of modern slavery and human trafficking in the UK. The Modern Slavery Act also places a duty on public authorities to co-operate with the Commissioner, share data with their office and comply with requests. The legislation is clear that the Commissioner has no responsibility for or powers over individual cases.

The Commissioner is accountable through their Strategic Plan and Annual Reports. These are laid before Parliament by the Home Secretary.

IASC’s Mission

The Office of the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner has a UK-wide mission to encourage good practice in the prevention of individuals from becoming exploited and revictimised; the protection of victims through increased identification and professional support; and the successful prosecutions of modern slavery offences.

At the heart of all of this, we will listen to, and incorporate the voices of those with lived experience of modern slavery into our work and policymakers' thinking. Additionally, we strive to improve knowledge and understanding of modern slavery and what measures are most effective at tackling it.

IASC’s Approach

The Commissioner works closely with victims of modern slavery. Alongside this, the Commissioner works with charities and civil society, law enforcement bodies, local government, devolved administrations, the UK Government, health authorities, regulators, businesses, and international partners to identify and share best practice in:

Protecting people at greater risk of exploitation from modern slavery and improving resilience in communities to those who would exploit others;
Preventing modern slavery victims from being re-exploited;
Reducing demand for exploitation;
Joining forces with international partners to tackle the root causes of human trafficking and modern slavery and disrupt efforts abroad to exploit vulnerable individuals who may otherwise be trafficked to the UK;
Detecting modern slavery when it does happen and identifying victims;
Getting victims the support and assistance they need, which might include referral to the National Referral Mechanism (NRM);
Investigating modern slavery offences and prosecuting offenders;
Supporting victims' journey through the criminal justice system; and
Conducting or supporting research to improve our understanding of modern slavery in the UK and support the anti-slavery sector itself to identify gaps and to forge new solutions, collaborations, and directions.

IASC's Strategic Plan

IASC's Strategic Plan covers the three-year period of the Commissioner's appointment and sets out the Commissioner's priority areas for tackling modern slavery across the UK. It outlines how the Office will engage those with lived experience of modern slavery and collaborate with those across the anti-slavery sector to fulfil our mission.