The UK government first announced plans to create a Modern Slavery Bill in 2013. As 2014 comes to a close, we look at what has been achieved so far and what still remains to be done.
The UK government first announced plans to create a Modern Slavery Bill in 2013. As 2014 comes to a close, we look at what has been achieved so far and what still remains to be done.
The Modern Slavery Bill is expected to become law before the general election in May 2015 and many individuals are optimistic about Britain’s opportunity to make a real difference. However, when the draft bill was published in December 2013, flaws were soon discovered.
The bill included no measures to prevent UK companies from using modern day slavery in the supply chain outside of Britain, with the Home Office stating that this would place an “additional burden” on companies.
The bill’s evidence review panel argued that wider-reaching supply chain legislation would help to protect ethical UK companies from losing out to less scrupulous market competitors. The Home Office therefore agreed to a change in legislation in October, and big businesses are now required to publicly state what actions they have taken to ensure their supply chains are free from modern day slavery.
Police conduct raid in Rochdale
Of course, this legislation will take time to pass into law and be enforced, and in the meantime conditions of modern day slavery continue to be found both in the UK and abroad.
This week, a raid on a picture framing factory in Rochdale revealed conditions of slavery in Britain. Police officers worked with the local council, the Home Office and customs to uncover a workforce of 20 Eastern European immigrants. The workers reported being subjected to physical and verbal assaults, and forced to work more than 80 hours a week for less than £2 an hour.
“The factory owners pay them around £125 for their 80 hours, but then take up to £100 away immediately for rent, travel and other expenses,” James Faulkner, Detective Inspector for Greater Manchester Police, explained to the Manchester Evening News. “This leaves the men and women effectively working for pennies, while simultaneously ensuring they remain reliant on the people enslaving them.”
He added: “When you consider that this factory was producing frames and pictures for major high street companies, with contracts running into the millions of pounds, it proves just how much money these men stood to make from this exploitation.”
The benefits of anti-slavery measures
Earlier this year, we examined research by Achilles which revealed the enormous risks of hidden ‘ethics gremlins’ in manufacturing supply chains. While over 90% of manufacturers believed that they were effectively managing supply chain risks, only 51% of UK manufacturers were found to be effectively auditing their direct suppliers and only 38% were properly auditing secondary suppliers.
This lack of supply chain visibility can allow conditions of modern day slavery to slip through undetected, putting vulnerable individuals at risk and threatening the reputation of major brands.
Britain has historically been one of the leading nations in the anti-slavery movement, and the Modern Slavery Bill will hopefully promote ethical improvements among retailers and suppliers. “This is not simply about forcing companies to act, but helping them to act,” Diana Johnson stated at the Bill’s committee hearing. “This legislation is about changing market conditions and creating market incentives for the suppliers themselves to be shown to be fair.”
Alongside legal guidelines and market incentives, supply chain technologies can also help companies to improve their ethical reputation. Segura’s solution provides a framework through which companies can monitor their use of secondary suppliers, ensuring that everything is provided by audited and ethical supply chain partners.
