Large companies are to face an annual duty of disclosure over the steps they have taken to ensure their supply chains are “slavery free”, Home Office ministers have announced.
Karen Bradley, the minister for modern slavery and organised crime, said the measure would be included in the modern slavery bill going through parliament, which brings together current offences on trafficking and slavery.
Bradley said the government would hold a consultation over the exact threshold for the size of business that the new duty of disclosure would affect. “Statutory guidance will also be produced setting out the kinds of information that might be disclosed to help companies comply,” she said.
The provision is partly modelled on transparency arrangements in California, where they apply to businesses that produce goods for sale to the public. The measure in Britain is designed to apply more widely to all large companies, regardless of their products or their nature.
“The fact that there are more people in slavery today than at any other time in human history is shameful,” said Bradley.
“We all have a responsibility to stamp out this evil trade and this world-leading measure calls on businesses to play their part. There are already many companies taking a lead and taking action.
“Greater transparency will give customers, campaigners and shareholders the information they need to hold all big businesses to account while also supporting companies to do the right thing,” she said.
The shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper, welcomed the announcement: “At long last the government has recognised that more should be done on international business supply chains to stop slavery.”
“We have been calling for stronger action from the start and we will look at the detailed proposals to make sure they go far enough. Reports of people being forced to work for no money, beaten and threatened with violence in the supply chain of products destined for UK shop shelves have shocked us all, and action is needed to protect human rights and promote ethical business,” she said.
“Ministers also need to listen to calls for other reforms to the Modern Slavery Bill including stronger measures to protect trafficked children and outlaw exploitation.”
The announcement came as the Salvation Army reported that the number of cases of labour or sexual exploitation supported by it under a Home Office contract had risen by 62% over the past year.
It had supported 550 people in the past year, with victims of labour exploitation overtaking the victims of sexual exploitation for the first time.
