Government has launched a consultation on proposals to strengthen and improve transparency in supply chains after publishing its response to an Independent Review of the Modern Slavery Act.
The 2015 Act requires businesses with a total turnover of £36m or more to produce annual modern slavery statements, providing evidence of steps taken to prevent modern slavery and human trafficking in their operations and supply chains.
To date, around 60% of in scope businesses have published statements, but the government claims that many are of poor quality and do not include sufficient detail.
It proposes making reporting on specific topics mandatory within businesses’ statements to encourage more comprehensive reporting and prioritised action, and aid external scrutiny by bringing consistency to reporting.
The consultation also reiterates a previous announcement to create an online registry for modern slavery statements published under the Act, and sets out an intention to amend the legislation to mandate publication on this registry.
Alongside this, the introduction of a single reporting deadline on which all organisations must publish their statement each year is proposed. Different reporting deadlines, the document says, can make it more difficult to compare action across different organisations and monitor compliance with the annual requirement.
Government is also seeking views on how best to tackle non-compliance, after the Independent Review recommended a gradual approach including initial warning letters followed by civil penalties. This would not come into force until a minimum of one year after any other potential changes to the transparency reporting requirements.
In addition, the consultation also outlines proposals to extend the requirement to publish annual modern slavery statements to public sector organisations with an annual budget exceeding £36M. This comes after a commitment that from 2020 / 21 onwards, individual ministerial departments will be publishing their own statements.
Commenting on the consultation, Home Secretary Sajid Javid said: “Modern slavery is a sickening form of inhumane exploitation that has absolutely no place in society. Our world leading Modern Slavery Act is tackling this hidden crime head on and we are now taking decisive steps to strengthen it further – ensuring victims are protected and perpetrators are brought to justice.”
Government has also announced investment of £10M to create a Policy & Evidence Centre for Modern Slavery & Human Rights which will bring together academics, businesses and charities to collaborate on new studies.