Modern Slavery
Bill
The purpose of the Bill is to:
● Strengthen the protection and support for victims of human
trafficking and modern slavery and increase the accountability of
companies and other organisations to drive out modern slavery
from their supply chains.
The main benefits of the Bill would be:
-
● Reducing the prevalence of modern slavery in supply
chains through increased transparency from businesses and
public bodies, building on the strong foundations of our
existing approach to increase the pressure on those that do
not take action.
-
● Enshrining in domestic law the Government’s
international obligations to victims of modern slavery,
especially regarding their rights to assistance and support,
providing greater legal certainty for victims.
-
● Ensuring law enforcement agencies have stronger tools
to prevent modern slavery occurring, protect victims of
modern slavery and bring perpetrators to justice.
The main elements of the Bill are:
-
● Strengthening the requirements on businesses with a
turnover of £36 million or more to publish an annual modern
slavery statement to set out steps taken to prevent modern
slavery in their operations and supply chains.
-
● Mandating the reporting areas to be covered in modern
slavery statements; requiring organisations to publish their
statements on a government-run registry, extending these
requirements to public bodies and introducing civil penalties
for organisations that do not comply with the requirements.
-
● Strengthening the operation of Slavery and
Trafficking Prevention Orders and Slavery and Trafficking
Risk Orders, which place conditions on an individual, to
prevent and disrupt modern slavery crimes and better protect
victims. These will be backed up by criminal sanctions for
any breaches.
Territorial extent and application
● The Bill will, in the main, extend and apply to England and
Wales, with some provisions extending and applying across the UK.
Key facts
-
● Modern slavery encompasses slavery, servitude, forced
and compulsory labour and human trafficking. In 2015, the
Government introduced the landmark Modern Slavery Act making
it the first country in the world to have legislation
dedicated to tackling modern slavery.
-
● The number of live police operations has increased
since the Modern Slavery Act became law, from 188 police
operations in December 2016 to 4,322 in January 2022. In the
year to September 2021, the police recorded 9,158 modern
slavery offences, an increase of six per cent from the year
to September 2020 when there were 8,622 offences recorded.
The greater recognition of modern slavery through the Act has
enabled us to crack down on modern slavery operations and
tackle these crimes at the source.
-
● More potential victims are being identified and
protected due to greater awareness and improved understanding
of modern slavery. In 2021, 12,727 potential victims of
modern slavery were referred through the National Referral
mechanism to the Home Office, a 20 per cent increase on the
previous year (10,601).
-
● In March 2021, the Government launched an online
modern slavery statement registry and encourages all
organisations to publish their annual modern slavery
statements on the registry. Since its launch, over 7,000
statements have been submitted covering over 23,350
organisations on a voluntary basis.
