Publish an annual modern slavery statement
Information to help you identify if your organisation needs to publish a modern slavery statement.
We encourage you to add your most recent modern slavery statement to the modern slavery statement registry.
Process for submitting to modern slavery statement registry.
Certain commercial organisations must publish an annual statement setting out the steps they take to prevent modern slavery in their business and their supply chains. This is a requirement under section 54 (Transparency in Supply Chains) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015.
Who needs to publish a statement?
A commercial organisation is required to publish an annual statement if it:
- is a ‘body corporate’ or a partnership, wherever incorporated or formed
- carries on a business, or part of a business, in the UK
- supplies goods or services, and
- has an annual turnover of £36 million or more
Organisations are responsible for determining whether the legislation applies to them. You may wish to seek legal advice to decide if your organisation needs to produce an annual statement.
Turnover
‘Total turnover’ means the turnover of the organisation and any of its subsidiary undertakings (including those operating wholly outside the UK).
‘Turnover’ means the amount received from the provision of goods and services falling within the ordinary activities of the organisation or its subsidiary undertakings, after the deduction of:
- trade discounts
- value added tax
- any other taxes
Overseas organisations trading in the UK or UK organisations trading overseas
If your organisation has a demonstrable business presence in the UK and you meet the other criteria, you should publish an annual statement. To help you determine if you need to do this, consider whether your organisation:
- is registered at UK Companies House
- has UK offices
- provides service or support functions in the UK
- receives income in the UK
- has other visible UK business presence, for example a website
This is not an exhaustive list.
Groups of companies
Some large corporate groups may have more than one subsidiary organisation which meets the criteria for publishing an annual statement.
Subsidiary organisations can choose to publish separate statements, reflecting the different nature of their businesses, or the group can publish one statement covering all the organisations that meet the criteria.
If a group chooses to publish one statement, it:
- must cover the steps taken to prevent modern slavery in all the organisations within that group that meet the criteria, and their supply chains
- should clearly name the parent and subsidiary organisations it is covering
- should be published on the UK websites of all the organisations covered by the statement
Holding companies
Some holding companies may not meet the criteria for publishing a statement, for example, because they do not provide goods or services. However, any organisations within the holding company’s corporate structure that do meet the criteria must publish a statement or be covered by a group statement.
Charities
Charities must publish an annual statement if they meet the criteria. When deciding whether a charity meets the turnover criteria, you should include income received from business activities, such as the provision of goods and services for a fee.
Donations, legacies and grants, where the donor receives no service or benefit, are generally not considered to be derived from business activities so do not need to be included when deciding whether a charity meets the £36 million turnover threshold.
Occasionally, grant income might be seen to be derived from business activities. Charities should think about whether the grant giver will receive benefit in return for the grant or whether there are any specific conditions as to what the charity can use the grant for.
Investment trusts
Investment trusts must publish an annual statement if they meet the criteria. When deciding whether an investment trust meets the turnover criteria, you do not need to include investment income from dividends and shares. You should include turnover derived from goods and services, for example, fund management services.
Administration circumstances
If an organisation is in, or entering administration, it must still consider whether it meets the criteria for the financial year in question. It will generally not need to publish an annual statement if it is no longer trading.
If the organisation is trading while in administration, and it meets the other criteria, for example its income from the provision of goods and services meets the turnover criteria, it is required to publish a statement.
Franchises
If a franchiser meets the criteria it is required to publish an annual statement. It is the turnover of the franchiser which determines if it needs to publish an annual statement. The turnover of the franchisee should not be used to calculate the franchiser’s turnover.
However, where the turnover of a franchisee is above the £36 million threshold, it must publish a separate statement.
Demonstrate compliance with the minimum legal requirements
To meet and demonstrate you have met the minimum legal requirements:
Update your modern slavery statement every year
Each year, assess whether your organisation meets the criteria for the preceding financial year. If so, publish a modern slavery statement. Statutory guidance states that you should do this within 6 months of your organisation’s financial year-end. You should also include the date your financial year ended.
Publish your modern slavery statement on your UK website
Place the link on a prominent place on your homepage. It is good practice to keep previous statements on your website so that your progress can be monitored. If you do not have a website, you must provide a copy of the statement in writing to anyone who requests one within 30 days of receiving the request.
Get approval from the board of directors (or equivalent management body)
To demonstrate that you have met this legal requirement, your statement should clearly state that board approval has been given with the date of approval.
Where the organisation is a limited liability partnership (LLP) the statement must be approved by the members. Your statement should clearly state that members’ approval has been given with the date of approval.
Get sign off from a director (or equivalent) or designated member (for LLPs)
Include their name, job title and the date. You do not need to include a physical signature, but you should still clearly state that it has been signed.
For a limited partnership, registered under the Limited Partnerships Act 1907, a general partner must sign the statement. For a limited liability partnership, a designated member must sign it. If the organisation is any other kind of partnership, a partner must sign it.
What to include in a modern slavery statement
Organisations are not expected to guarantee that all their supply chains are ‘slavery free’. However, statements must describe the steps your organisation has taken during the financial year to deal with modern slavery risks in your supply chains and your own business.
If your organisation has taken no steps to deal with modern slavery risks, you must still publish a statement setting this out.
The Modern Slavery Act recommends that you cover the following 6 areas in your statement:
- Organisation structure and supply chains
- Policies in relation to slavery and human trafficking
- Due diligence processes
- Risk assessment and management
- Key performance indicators to measure effectiveness of steps being taken
- Training on modern slavery and trafficking
More information about these areas is available in the statutory guidance.
Add your statement to the government registry
The government modern slavery statement registry makes it easier for people to find modern slavery statements.
As well as publishing your statement on your website, you can add your most recent statement to the registry to share the steps your organisation is taking to prevent modern slavery in your supply chains.
You will need to provide basic information about your organisation and your statement.
You will also be able to provide a summary of your statement by answering additional questions. These questions are optional, however you are encouraged to answer all questions as fully as possible, to help improve understanding of modern slavery risks and best practice.
Read all of the required and optional questions to help you prepare your submission.
Anyone interested in viewing statements can use the government registry to search for organisations’ statements and view the summaries they have provided.
Best practice
The detail and quality of information you include under each of the 6 recommended areas should improve in successive annual statements. Use your statement to show how you are:
- acting transparently and disclosing information about any modern slavery risks you have identified and what actions you have taken in response to them
- targeting your actions where they can have the most impact by prioritising your risks
- making year-on-year progress to address those risks and improve outcomes for workers in your business and supply chains
More resources and guidance
The Home Office’s statutory guidance provides more detailed advice for organisations on complying with section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015.
The government has announced future changes to the reporting requirements for modern slavery statements. For more information on these changes, read the transparency in supply chains consultation response.
These changes have not yet come into effect and organisations should continue to report under the current requirements set out on this page.
Contact
If you have any questions about the modern slavery reporting requirements, contact: [email protected].
Updates to this page
Published 12 March 2019Last updated 25 April 2024 + show all updates
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Updated to reflect improvements to the modern slavery statement registry.
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‘Resources for public bodies’ heading and paragraph added under ‘More resources and guidance’.
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Added a link to the process for submitting a government modern slavery statement.
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Added information to highlight that future changes will made to what you need to do to report modern slavery risks in your supply chain. Added a new section about how to add your statement to the government registry of modern slavery statements.
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Added a link to the Coronavirus (COVID-19): reporting modern slavery for businesses guidance page.
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Updated the link for 'Ethical Trading Initiative – Modern Slavery Statement Evaluation Framework' under 'Reporting guidance' heading.
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First published.