There have been “too few” convictions since the introduction of the Modern Slavery Act, with businesses treating their obligations as a “tick-box exercise”, according to an independent review of the laws.
The report, published this week, concluded that the Act has contributed to greater awareness of modern slavery in companies’ supply chains, but 40 % of eligible companies are not complying with the legislation at all. Meanwhile, a number of others are approaching their obligations as a “mere tick-box exercise”.
The review team, chaired by Frank Field MP, recommended that the Companies Act 2006 should be amended to include a requirement for companies to refer to their modern slavery statement in their annual reports. This would help “embed modern slavery reporting into business culture”, they said.
They also said that failure to fulfil modern slavery statement reporting requirements, or to act when instances of slavery are found, should be an offence under the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986.
The group set out 80 recommendations in all, some of which will require new legislation. Still, ministers were told to act “quickly and effectively”. Businesses were urged to take reporting on modern slavery as seriously as gender pay gap reporting.
“Through the Act, the UK became the first country in the world to introduce pioneering transparency in supply chains requirements, leading to thousands of large businesses taking action to identify and eradicate modern slavery from their supply chains,” Field wrote in his foreword. “[This] report recommends putting teeth into this part of the Act so that all businesses take seriously their responsibilities to check their supply chains.”
The number of potential victims identified in the UK each year has more than doubled from 3,266 in 2015 to 6,993 in 2018, the group noted. However, campaigners estimate the figure is considerably higher. The proportion of children identified has increased during the same period from 30% to nearly 45%.
