A high court judge has suspended a Home Office policy that cuts off after six weeks all statutory support to slavery victims in the UK, ruling that it risks causing “irreparable harm to very vulnerable individuals”.

The Home Office must now immediately extend assistance to all slavery and trafficking victims requiring support in the UK, estimated to be about 600 people, over the next few months.

Under the Modern Slavery Act, the Home Office is required to provide safe housing, counselling and financial support for 45 days to people who have been formally identified as victims of slavery or trafficking.

Duncan Lewis, the law firm that challenged the Home Office’s 45-day policy in court, said Wednesday’s ruling would allow victims more time to recover from their ordeal.

“We’re really happy no one else will be left at the mercy of the Home Secretary’s 45-day cliff-edge drop in support,” said Ahmed Aydeed, public law director at Duncan Lewis.

“Recovery is a vital form of relief for a trafficked and enslaved person, and we have a duty to assist victims in their physical, psychological and social recovery. Without this support, victims are left at an enhanced risk of re-trafficking and enslavement. There is no clinical nor logical basis to limit support to 45 days after they’ve been formally identified as victims.”

The ruling follows last month’s decision by a high court in Birmingham that the 45-day policy is potentially unlawful, and will be heard again in June.

In March, the high court there heard from two slavery victims over the potential impact a termination of support would have. The first victim, who was trafficked into cannabis cultivation and subsequently criminalised and illegally detained in prison, said that if his support ended after 45 days he would be homeless and unable to attend medical appointments without the backing of a support worker.

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The second, an Albanian woman who was trafficked into sexual exploitation, said: “I am scared that I will have a mental breakdown and that will affect my ability to care for my daughter.”

“[T]here is a real risk of irreparable harm to a significant number of vulnerable victims of slavery and trafficking if their support were to end after 45 days,” Mr Justice Julian Knowles wrote in his judgment.

“Granting this relief will also avoid the cost and inconvenience of large numbers of individual claimants having to apply for interim relief to this court.”

Until now, victims have been allowed to apply for extensions after their 45 days of support expire, but it appears that most victims – and those assisting them – have been unaware of the policy, and the criteria applied to grant the extensions, which are both unpublished. More than 1,500 extensions requests have been made to the Home Office since 2015, according to the judgment, nearly all of which (95.8%) were granted. But these requests were only in relation to a small proportion (11.2%) of people who receive support, which means that the vast majority of people are perhaps unaware that they could seek extensions.

Aydeed said Wednesday’s ruling in support of all trafficking and slavery victims was due to the two clients who first challenged the policy.

“It really is down to the bravery of our clients: after all that they’ve been through, they have taken up this challenge to ensure others who are trafficked and enslaved do not lose their support after 45 days,” he said.

“We’re extremely disappointed with the Home Secretary, who on multiple occasions conceded in open court that he has a duty to continue supporting victims, and yet is attempting to renege on his duty and concession.

A full decision on the unlawfulness of the Home Office’s 45-day policy is expected by June.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “The government is committed to ensuring all victims of modern slavery get the support they need. It would not be appropriate to comment on ongoing legal proceedings.”