The UK Home Office released its September 2026 snapshot of National Referral Mechanism (NRM) cases awaiting a conclusive grounds decision on 8 October 2026, publishing the data as an HTML document on GOV.UK.

What is this release?

The publication sits inside the Home Office's National Referral Mechanism statistics collection. It carries the formal designation "Official Statistics" and consists of two linked HTML files:

• The main data table covering the September 2026 reference period
• A pre-release access list naming the parties that saw the figures before public release

The pre-release list is a standard UK government transparency protocol for official statistical outputs.

What does the NRM cover?

The Home Office page defines the National Referral Mechanism as the route through which potential victims of modern slavery in the UK come to official attention. Authorised "first responder" organisations identify possible victims and refer their cases into the framework.

Authorised first responders include:

• Local authorities
• Specified non-governmental organisations (NGOs)
• Police forces
• Specified government agencies

Once referred, a case moves toward a conclusive grounds decision — the second and final determination that confirms whether the person is a victim of modern slavery under UK law.

What does September 2026 measure?

The statistics count NRM cases that await a conclusive grounds decision during September 2026. Cases that remain at the earlier "reasonable grounds" stage also sit inside the framework but occupy an earlier rung of the decision process.

The release scopes itself to the in-system, post-referral population. It does not cover potential victims who were never referred, nor does it count applications that have already moved to a final resolved outcome.

Who should track this dataset?

The September 2026 figures feed into operational planning across the UK modern slavery response:

• Local authority first responders managing referral intakes
• NGO partners delivering front-line support
• Police forces handling safeguarding referrals
• Central government agencies with case-decision responsibilities

Observers working across the immigration and protection space will treat the 8 October date as the freshest official marker for NRM caseload trend analysis.

What is — and isn't — on the landing page?

The GOV.UK page itself is brief. It explains what the NRM is, lists the first responder categories, and links out to the underlying data tables. Readers wanting the actual September 2026 counts must open the linked HTML documents.

The page does not name individual applicants, individual cases, or the staff handling them. Personal information does not appear in this release — the publication operates at the level of aggregate counts, not row-by-row detail.

What does the headline metric omit?

The snapshot does not capture:

• Referrals that never reached a first responder
• Outcomes of cases that closed before reaching a conclusive grounds decision
• Detailed breakdowns by nationality, age, or sector of exploitation

For those cuts, readers will need additional publications from the Home Office or downstream datasets elsewhere on GOV.UK.

The release lands under the Open Government Licence v3.0, meaning the figures can be reused commercially with attribution to the Home Office.