Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Minister of State of 18 April 2018, Official Report, column 307, what progress her Department has made on establishing a business hub to support the implementation of section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015.

Good progress has been made on the establishment of the Business Integrity Hub working closely with the Department for International Trade and Foreign and Commonwealth Office. DFID has engaged with over 80 companies to help businesses integrate analysis and management of integrity issues, including modern slavery, into their strategies for doing business in developing countries. The Hub will be operational later this year.

Home Office are the lead department for the implementation of section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015. The Business Integrity Hub will not directly support implementation of section 54 but will contribute to the legislation’s objective to increase transparency in supply chains. It will do so by linking businesses with DFID’s Responsible Accountable Transparent Enterprise (RATE) programme for advice on ethical supply chain management.