- Applicable to turnovers at least £36 million.
- Annual statement for each financial year.
- Requirement under Modern Slavery Act 2015
Any company supplying goods or services, or conducting business in the UK, and whose turnover exceeds £36 Million is now required to make an annual “slavery and human trafficking statement”.
The provision of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 (Transparency in Supply Chains) Regulations 2015 is intended to ensure that organisations take proactive steps to ensure that modern slavery does not occur in their own organisation or within their supply chains.
While there is no defined structure or content for the statement, it must include:
“the steps the organisation has taken during the financial year to ensure that slavery and human trafficking is not taking place in any of its supply chains, and in any part of its own business”
In addition, the statement must be approved by a director and ‘published’ which includes in a ‘prominent’ place on the website.
Supply Chain Auditing
The Modern Slavery Act is just the latest piece of legislation to encourage UK organisations to take responsibility for their supply chain to ensure that they operate ethically and sustainably.
The EU Timber Regulations also imposed requirements on companies placing timber and timber products on the EU market for time to ensure the material was forced from a licensed forest. Read How the EU is Battling Illegally Harvested Timber
Auditing your supply chain is one pro-active step you can take to evaluate the practices of your suppliers, and show evidence that your organisation is committed to fair, ethical sustainable and legal trade.
Consultancies such as Assent Risk Management, have auditors training in a variety of areas who can assess against recognised standards and build a bespoke programme based on your own visions and values.
Our experienced auditors work objectively to assess and report findings in areas including:
Additional Guidance
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/transparency-in-supply-chains-a-practical-guide