Member Article

Business, religious and academic leaders tackle modern slavery

Business, religious and academic leaders in Derby have joined forces to tackle the problem of modern slavery in UK business.

Compliance specialist Altius has collaborated with the Bishop of Derby, The Rt Revd Dr Alastair Redfern, and the University of Derby, to publish a major report on modern slavery in commercial life.

It is estimated that there are 45 million victims of slavery globally, with up to 13,000 victims in the UK alone. The UK is leading the world in tackling the problem, and the Bishop of Derby is a member of the Parliamentary Select Committee that helped draft the Modern Slavery Act of 2015.

Altius’ Modern Day Slavery Survey 2017 Report, shows that UK businesses need to do more to tackle modern slavery across their supply chains.

The survey finds that there is a strong desire to break the shackles of modern slavery, but a failure to follow through on good intentions.

While 80 per cent of those surveyed said that they had a Modern Slavery policy, 45 per cent said that they couldn’t see any evidence that their firm was complying with the Modern Slavery Act. 82 per cent said that they wanted to see their senior managers do more and one in three admitted that they did not know who had ultimate responsibility for modern slavery compliance in the business.

In his foreword to the report, The Rt Revd Dr Alastair Redfern, writes: Modern Slavery legislation recognises the important role of businesses – to ensure that they are not using slave labour, especially in supply chains and through agency workers. This report is a model of how businesses can be encouraged to recognise the realities of the challenge of Modern Slavery, and to identify areas for improvement and the development of good practice.“

Len Simmons, Chief Operating Officer for Altius, said: “Too often, there’s no single person who is responsible for compliance with the Modern Slavery Act. Simply having a code of conduct or ethical procurement policy isn’t enough. Businesses need to act on and implement their policies to ensure both they and their suppliers are compliant.”

Dr. Dave Walsh, Associate Professor at the University of Derby, claims that private sector companies face a ‘hard slog’ to full compliance, not least because modern slavery can be so difficult to identify.

He said: “In contrast to historical slavery systems characterised by whips, chains, and physical imprisonment, modern day slavery is less overt, typically with no obvious visible signs of restraint.”

Altius provides compliance software and management services to help organisations identify and eliminate risks, such as modern slavery, across their supply chains.

Further information: www.altiusva.com

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Altius .