Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government, following reports in the Sunday Times on 26 January of forced labour in bakeries supplying high street supermarkets and a McDonald's franchise, what assessment they have made of the benefits of introducing mandatory supply chain due diligence to identify and prevent exploitation of workers.

The UK supports voluntary due diligence approaches taken by UK businesses to identify and prevent exploitation of workers across their operations and supply chains, in line with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.

We will continue to assess and monitor the effectiveness of the UK’s existing measures, alongside the impacts of new policy tools that are emerging, to ensure we can best promote responsible business practices and take action where appropriate.