On 11 March 2021, the Home Office announced the launch of its new registry for slavery statements and the addition of the government’s own modern slavery statement to the registry. It’s a requirement for large businesses to produce a statement each year setting out the steps they have taken to ensure that their business and supply chains are slavery free, or a statement that they have taken no steps to do this.
The intention following the launch of the registry is that the online registry will make it easier for organisations to show they are complying with the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and allow any member of the public to search for statements. Currently, the registry is voluntary, but all organisations are strongly encouraged to submit their statements online. In due course it will be mandatory for organisations which are legally required to produce a statement to submit that statement to the registry, as part of the proposed changes to strengthen the reporting requirements of the MSA.
