MP seeks assurances on supermarkets' role in preventing slavery

Mark Pritchard, MP for The Wrekin, tabled a question to the Home Secretary asking what steps were being taken to ensure that nothing on the supermarket shelves was a product of slavery.

He voiced concerns that retailers must not support slavery through the use of third party suppliers.

Home Office minister Rachel Maclean replied that all businesses with a turnover of £36 million or more had to report annually on the steps they had taken to prevent modern slavery in their operations and supply chains.

"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," she said.

Mrs Maclean said Home Office guidance was that companies should give account of the risk assessments and due diligence they took to prevent and tackle modern slavery.

"The Government encourages companies to report transparently about how they are identifying and mitigating modern slavery risks in their operations and supply chains, and to use their modern slavery statements to demonstrate year on year progress," she said.

She added that the Government had strengthened the reporting requirements and committed to introduce financial penalties for businesses which failed to do so.

She added that in March this year the Government launched a digital registry for modern slavery statements so they could easily be viewed by investors and consumers.

"The Government is currently reviewing its modern slavery strategy and will consider whether there are further opportunities to enhance our approach to transparency in supply chains," Mrs Maclean added.