Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he has taken to ensure that due diligence procedures for government procurement are adequate to prevent goods made from forced labour in Xinjiang from entering the UK supply chain.
Answered by Michael Ellis
This government is committed to preventing modern slavery occurring in public sector supply chains.
The Cabinet Office has published commercial policy and guidance setting out the steps that all Government departments must take to identify and mitigate modern slavery and labour abuse risks throughout the commercial life cycle - focussing on the areas of highest risk. This policy is mandatory for all Central Government Departments, their Executive Agencies and Non-Departmental Public Bodies. The policy can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/procurement-policy-note-0519-tackling-modern-slavery-in-government-supply-chains.