As a result, some commercial organisations now have a legal obligation to publish annually a Modern Slavery Statement specifying what they are doing to find and prevent modern slavery in their business and supply chains.
What should a Modern Slavery Statement include?
The MSA does not dictate the form and content of a Modern Slavery Statement, although there are some procedures that must be followed to ensure compliance. The government, however, has recommended a number of topics and details to include as best practice.
Many statements, however, are woefully short on detail. In the light of this the government announced in September 2020 that it will consider whether to mandate what should be included but only when parliamentary time allows.
Who should read this guide?
How to use this guide
The guide is divided into three sections:
- Mandatory Procedures – this section considers the procedures that must be followed to ensure compliance with the MSA.
- Completeness – this section covers the information that should be provided and the level of detail needed to understand an organisation’s exposure to the risk of modern slavery and human trafficking occurring within its business and supply chains.
- Best Practice - this section reviews how organisations have included (or not) the six areas that the government currently suggests may be included in a statement as best practice.
Further information
Download our exclusive guide to good and bad practice when writing a Modern Slavery Statement
PDF (274kb)
Read this ICAEW know-how guide highlighting best practice and revealing some common errors and omissions.
Download
