Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many companies in the UK subject to section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 have disclosed (1) the use of cobalt, and (2) the use of cobalt from the Democratic Republic of the Congo in their supply chain in the past five years; and what steps they have taken to pay workers a fair price and to eradicate child labour in supply chains.

Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 requires commercial businesses who operate in the UK and have a turnover of £36 million or more to report annually on the steps they have taken to prevent modern slavery in their operations and supply chains. This transparency legislation was designed to enable consumers, investors and civil society to scrutinise business action and hold them to account.

The prevalence of modern slavery and complexity of global supply chains means that it is highly unlikely that any sector or company is immune from the risks of modern slavery. The Government encourages companies to monitor their supply chains with rigor to uncover and remedy any instances of modern slavery they may find.

To further enhance transparency, In March 2021 the UK Government launched an online modern slavery statement registry to bring together modern slavery statements onto a single platform and make the data readily available for the public. Since launch, 12,000 modern slavery statements covering 40,000 organisations have been submitted to the registry on a voluntary basis.

It would not be realistic or proportionate for Government to routinely review the content of individual modern slavery statements.