News Story: Government Responds to House of Lords Modern Slavery Report

On 16 December 2024, the Home Office published Policy Paper: Modern Slavery – Government response to House of Lords committee report responding to a House of Lords committee Report on the Modern Slavery Act 2015, published in October 2024 (see FC Feature 16 October 2024).

The committee's report made recommendations including establishing an arms-length single enforcement body, changes to immigration policy and legislation, and introducing legislation to require certain companies to: (i) undertake modern slavery due diligence in their supply chains; and (ii) take reasonable steps to address issues.

The government's response includes the following points of interest.

• The Employment Rights Bill will enable the creation of a single enforcement body, to be known as the Fair Work Agency (FWA), following a Labour Party manifesto commitment. The FWA will be an executive agency of the DBT and provide a single point of contact for reporting labour exploitation and related concerns.
• The government is reviewing how it can strengthen penalties for non-compliance with supply chain requirements and create a proportionate enforcement regime. It will set out next steps in due course.
• The government will assess the best ways to prevent environmental harms, modern slavery, and human and labour rights abuses in supply chains, including effective due diligence rules.

The Home Office response paper follows the DBT's publication of Labour Market Enforcement Strategy 2024/25 and Call for Evidence: Strategy 2025/26 in November 2024 (see FC Feature 14 November 2024). The FWA is not expected to become operational before the 2026/27 financial year.

For further information on the wide-ranging Employment Rights Bill generally, see FC Feature 10 October 2024.