Allerdale Borough Council's anti-slavery charter
On 29 January 2020 Allerdale Borough Council reiterated its commitment to do what is can to tackle modern-day slavery. Councillors agreed the following charter:
‘This council notes:
Though slavery was abolished in the UK in 1833, there are more slaves today than ever before in human history. Figures from the International Labour Organisation (ILO) suggest that there are more than 40 million people in modern slavery across the world, with nearly 25 million held in forced labour.
There were 3805 victims of modern slavery identified in the UK in 2016. A rising number but still well below the 10,000 and 13,000 potential victims estimated by the Home Office. Modern Slavery is happening nationwide. Traffickers and slave masters use whatever means they have at their disposal to coerce, deceive and force individuals into a life of abuse, servitude and inhumane treatment. This can include sexual and criminal exploitation.
This council believes
That action needs to be taken to raise awareness of modern slavery and the fact that it is happening all over the UK.
That councils have an important role to play in ensuring their contracts and supplies don't contribute to modern day slavery and exploitation.
This council resolves
To continue to operate in a responsible manner by adhering to legal obligations on Modern Slavery in our procurement activities.
Allerdale Borough Council will:
1. Require its contractors to comply fully with the Modern Slavery Act 2015, wherever it applies, with contract termination as a potential sanction for noncompliance/
2. Challenge any abnormally low-cost tenders to ensure they do not rely upon the potential contractor practising modern slavery
3. Highlight to its suppliers that contracted workers are free to join a trade union and are not to be treated unfairly for belonging to one.
4. Publicise its whistle-blowing system for staff to blow the whistle on any suspected examples
of modern slavery.
5. Require its tendered contractors to adopt a whistle-blowing policy which enables their staff
to blow the whistle on any suspected examples of modern slavery.
6. Review its contractual spending regularly to identify any potential issues with modern
slavery.
7. Highlight for its suppliers any risks identified concerning modern slavery and refer them to the relevant agencies to be addressed.
8. Refer for investigation via the National Crime Agency's national referral mechanism any of its contractors identified as a cause for concern regarding modern slavery.
9. Report publicly on the implementation of this policy annually.’
