18 November 2022

We are proud to announce the launch of an exciting new resource, made in collaboration with STOPTHETRAFFIK and the Mekong Club, designed to help Local Authorities tackle modern slavery in their operations and supply chains.

More about the resource

It consists of two parts: A self-assessment scorecard and supporting guidance. They have been designed to empower local authorities to confidentially self-assess what they are doing well in their responses to modern slavery and where challenges and gaps lie. The supporting guidance provides further advice on how to improve and signposts to relevant resources, templates and frameworks, allowing local authorities to embed best practice across their work.

The resource aims to act as a supporting framework for local authorities to begin their journey tackling modern slavery or build upon what they are already doing.

The scorecard and supporting guidance can be accessed here.

Why did we create it?

Modern slavery happens everywhere, including here in the UK. It operates in plain sight and could affect organisations without them even knowing. It is therefore crucial that all organisations, including local authorities, understand how they might be affected so that they can take steps to reduce the risk.

The number of victims of modern slavery rises each year. In 2021, 12,727 potential victims of modern slavery were referred to the National Referral Mechanism (NRM), a 20% increase compared to the preceding year. It is also the highest number of referrals since the NRM began. Moreover, due to the hidden nature of the crime, the real number is suspected to be far greater.

In 2020, the Government announced an ambitious package of measures to strengthen the Modern Slavery Act’s transparency legislation including, amongst other things, extending the reporting requirement to public bodies with a budget of £36 million or more. As the U.K. public sector amounts to approximately £250 billion in annual spend, this could present a powerful opportunity to directly impact modern slavery through this sector.

We hope this resource will equip local authorities to tackle these changes head on and empower them to address modern slavery in their operations and supply chains.

The launch

We launched the resource on 17th November 2022 both in-person at Middle Eight Hotel in Holborn, London and online to local authorities across the country, representing departments such as adult and child safeguarding, procurement, community safety and HR/recruitment. We were also joined by several modern slavery leads.

At the event we were fortunate enough to hear from a range of speakers, including:

• Natalie Evans (Responsible Procurement Manager, Westminster Council) and Vanouhi Petrosyan (Responsible Procurement Officer, Westminster Council)
• Dami Omole (Senior Program Manager, Shiva Foundation)
• Jason Nunn (Director of Business Engagement, STOP THE TRAFFIK)
• Meenal Sachdev (Director, Shiva Foundation)

With recent estimates indicating as many as 100,000 victims of modern slavery in the UK, we cannot neglect the issue and must recognise that we all have a part to play. From co-creating and coordinating the Hertfordshire Modern Slavery Partnership for several years, we have seen first-hand the difference that can be made at the local level. We hope this robust guide and accompanying self assessment scorecard builds on the good work that is already being done and provides further guidance for Local Authorities looking to address modern slavery in their operations and supply chains. We hope to see many Local Authorities using it to help protect vulnerable people from exploitation.” – Cllr Meenal Sachdev

Next steps

Both the scorecard and the guide can be accessed here.

We thank our partners STOPTHETRAFFIK and the Mekong Club for working with us on this project and the Home Office for providing funding.

If you would like to speak to someone about your organisation’s needs and how we or any of the project partners can support you, please email [email protected].

We are also pleased to announce that we will be doing a series of FREE webinars, each focusing on a different key thematic area of the scorecard/guide. If you are interested, please register your interest here.

By Gabriella Jiménez