Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to support supermarkets to publish a human rights strategy for workers in the food supply chain in the UK.

The Government welcomes campaigns such as Oxfam’s ‘Behind the Price’ with the supermarket scorecard that is a part of it and which includes scores for the fair treatment of women.

The Government recognises the positive competitive environment which benchmarks of this type help to create, whereby businesses aim to be at the top of an annual ranking. At the same time, such benchmarks enable consumers, investors, civil society and regulators to challenge those businesses who could improve, using this evidence base.

The retail sector recognises it has a responsibility on these issues and is pioneering responsible sourcing practices. The Government welcomes industry initiatives in this context such as the British Retail Consortium’s ‘Better Retail, Better World’. The Government is determined to eliminate exploitation of workers in the food supply chain in the UK. The Modern Slavery Act 2015 increased specialist support for victims and it requires businesses to be transparent about their supply chains. The Government response to the independent review of the legislation will set out how it intends to strengthen this approach further.