Asked by: Lord McColl of Dulwich (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, in the light of the findings of The Sancroft-Tussell Report: Eliminating Modern Slavery in Public Procurement, published on 22 March, whether they will terminate contracts with companies that have failed to comply with section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015; what other actions, if any, have been or will be taken against those Government suppliers failing to meet the requirements of section 54; whether contracts to supply Government departments include obligations to demonstrate compliance with section 54; and what steps, if any, they have taken to ensure that their suppliers are taking steps to reduce modern slavery in their supply chains.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
The Public Contracts Regulations 2015 provide various grounds on which contracting authorities must or may exclude suppliers from a public procurement process. Mandatory exclusion grounds include convictions for forced labour and human trafficking offences. Discretionary grounds include violations of obligations in the field of environmental, social and labour laws.
It is the responsibility of individual contracting authorities to ensure suppliers meet their contractual obligations and this is achieved through effective contract management. Such contracts have a range of mechanisms to enable performance to be managed and issues to be addressed, which includes termination.
The Home Office have developed and piloted a modern slavery supplier assessment tool to assess risk of modern slavery in supply chains, which has been trialled in five departments and is currently being updated prior to further roll-out. The Cabinet Office is also working with the Home Office to develop guidance for departments in identifying and tackling modern slavery, particularly in high risk sectors.