Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the oral contribution of the Foreign Secretary of 12 January 2021, Official Report, column 162, on strengthening the Modern Slavery Act by introducing fines for businesses that do not comply with their transparency obligations and the need for legislation to set the level of those fines, when she plans to bring forward those legislative proposals.

The landmark transparency provisions contained in section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 made the UK the first country in the world to require businesses with a turnover of £36m or more to report annually on the steps they have taken to prevent modern slavery in their operations and supply chains.

To enhance the impact of transparency and accelerate action to prevent modern slavery, the Government committed to strengthening the reporting requirements contained in section 54 and introduce new measures including financial penalties for organisations that fail to meet their statutory obligation to publish modern slavery statements.

These measures require primary legislation and will be introduced when parliamentary time allows. The Government will publish guidance to help organisations prepare for the new reporting requirements when the timing of legislation is clear.