Modern Slavery Act 2015

Introduction

Modern slavery is a crime and a gross violation of fundamental human rights. It takes various forms, such as slavery, servitude, forced and compulsory labour and human trafficking, all of which have in common the deprivation of a person’s liberty by another in order to exploit them for personal or commercial gain.  We have a zero-tolerance approach to modern slavery.  We're committed to acting ethically and with integrity in all our business dealing and relationships and implementing and enforcing effective systems and controls to ensure modern slavery is not taking place anywhere in our business or in any of our supply chains.

We're committed to ensuring there is transparency in our business and in our approach to tackling modern slavery throughout our supply chains, consistent with our disclosure obligations under the Modern Slavery Act 2015.  We expect the same high standards from all our contractors, suppliers and other business partners, and as part of our contracting processes, we include specific prohibitions against the use of forced, compulsory or trafficked labour, or anyone held in slavery or servitude, whether adults or children, and we expect that our suppliers will hold their own suppliers to the same high standards.

Responsibility for the Statement

The Chief Executive has overall responsibility for ensuring the statement complies with our legal and ethical obligations, and that everyone complies with it. The Board of Directors will approve the contents of the statement.

The Head of the In House Legal Team has primary and day-to-day responsibility for implementing the statement, monitoring its use and effectiveness, dealing with any queries about it, and auditing internal control systems and procedures to ensure that they are effective.

Management at all levels are responsible for ensuring those reporting to them understand and comply with the statement and are given adequate and regular training on it and the issue of modern slavery in supply chains.

What have we done?

We've developed a statement that applies to all persons working for us or on our behalf in any capacity, including employees at all levels, directors, officers, agency workers, seconded workers, volunteers, apprentices, agents, contractors, external consultants, third-party representatives and business partners. Staff training has also taken place and we've changed clauses in our contracts to comply with the Modern Slavery Act. We will continue to review the needs of staff and their training needs, heighten awareness to all staff and ensure that our suppliers and contractors comply with their obligations to meet the obligations under the modern slavery act.

 Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Annual Statement 2024-25