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Procurement and the Modern Day Slavery Act - Part 1

Thursday 31st August 2017

"Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves; and, under a just God, cannot long retain it." The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume III, "Letter To Henry L. Pierce and Others" (April 6, 1858), p. 376.

The Modern Day Slavery Act is primarily concerned with targeting slavery - particularly linked with the trafficking of human beings. The act was originally introduced to the House of Commons as a draft form in October 2013 by James Brokenshire. Finally on the 26th March 2015 it gained royal assent and became law. The law refers to current provisions in the following three areas:

•Creating two new civil orders to prevent modern slavery.


•Established an Anti-Slavery Commissioner.


•Makes provision for the protection of modern day slavery victims.


The act, as from the 29th October 2015 included a section which would impact procurement and supply chain directly - the Transparency in Supply Chain Provisions. This means that businesses with an annual turnover of (£36 million) must provide an annual statement which demonstrates no slavery and human trafficking or activities linked to trafficking having taken place in the business or in any supply chain linked to that business. It is important to note here, there is no legal bind to provide this information and there is no criminal or financial penalty if companies refuse to provide this.

On the 31st January 2017, the Welsh Government, the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply, the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), and Business West held a conference whereby it had 10153 companies with statements held within its open data register, making it the largest modern slavery statement register globally.

As identified by Rebecca Ellinor Tyler Ethics, Supply chain. (Jan 2016) https://www.cips.org/supply-management/analysis/2016/february/complying-with-the-modern-slavery-act-advice-from-cips/