Even though most people think that slavery only exists overseas, modern slavery in the UK is thriving. Nationally, the Home Office received 17,004 referrals of potential victims of modern slavery in 2023, which represents a marginal increase in referrals compared to the preceding year (16,921). This year continued the trend of setting the highest number of national referral mechanism (NRM) referrals since the NRM began in 2009: this has occurred each year apart from 2020 which was heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
2023 saw a few changes to the NRM process, namely the decision-making at the “reasonable grounds” stage, which required the potential victim to provide “objective evidence” of their exploitation. This decision was reversed by the Home Office after 6 months, but anecdotal evidence from our partners in the Derby and Derbyshire Modern Slavery Partnership working directly with potential victims suggests that this requirement placed an impossible ask on many potential victims who had not collected evidence of their exploitation whilst being trapped in slavery, thus impacting on the number of victims who did not receive a positive “reasonable grounds” decision or even chose not to enter the NRM at all.
The Home Office received 4,929 “duty to notify” reports of individuals who chose not to enter the NRM, the highest number since the “duty to notify” began in 2015.
The Home Office estimates that the annual cost of modern slavery in the UK is between £3.3 billion and £4.3 billion.
Modern slavery in Derbyshire
Derbyshire is in the centre of England and has a population of 802,694. The population of Derbyshire is forecast to increase by 10% by 2039. Derbyshire is a place of geographical and social contrasts. It has a few heavily built-up areas and large, sparsely populated rural areas. Derbyshire is a largely rural county with many sparsely populated areas alongside larger built-up urban conurbations.
More than 8 million people - a sixth of England’s population - live within 18 miles of the county border, mainly in the large cities of Sheffield, Manchester, and Nottingham. This is relevant as slavery and exploitation often occurs across borders, and Derbyshire’s rural areas may be seen by criminals as ideal locations to exploit individuals with less chance of detection. We have worked with Safer Derbyshire Research and Information analysts and our partners to create exploitation surveys to understand the profile of labour and sexual exploitation within Derbyshire (See section on strategic assessment), and the role that the county’s geography plays in enabling exploitation.
In Derbyshire, there were 162 reported cases of modern slavery in 2023, of which 79 were adults and 73 were children. This is an increase on 2022’s total of 129 reported cases. Our first responders referred 37 children and 0 adults into the NRM. Adult victims within the county were more likely to be identified and referred into the NRM by Derbyshire Police and other first responder agencies.
This statement and our commitment
This statement sets out our actions to understand all potential modern slavery risks related to its business and to detail the steps put in place to ensure that there is no slavery or human trafficking in its own business or its supply chains. This statement relates to actions and activities for the financial year ending 31 March 2024 meeting the requirements of Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015.
We are committed to improving its practices to identify and combat this crime, both externally with our partners and internally through co-operation between services across the organisation. We, as a public sector organisation, an employer, community leader and a procurer are committed to taking a preventative approach to modern slavery and human trafficking within its corporate responsibilities and activities. As such, this statement covers our direct employees, agency workers, relief staff and services delivered on behalf of us by third party organisations, and as part of our supply chains. We believe that because it has a large number of suppliers and is an influential purchaser in Derbyshire, it is important to publish a statement that is transparent about the actions it will be taking to respond to the Modern Slavery Act 2015. This statement will be published on our website and the government's modern slavery statement registry.
We acknowledge our duty to notify the Secretary of State of suspected victims of slavery or human trafficking as required by section 52 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015. We also note our responsibility under the national referral mechanism (NRM) as a “First Responder” and is committed to training internal and external partners to be best placed to identify potential signs of modern slavery and be confident in the reporting concerns and taking action to safeguard potential victims.
We are a lead member of the Derby and Derbyshire Modern Slavery Partnership (DDMSP), a multi-agency partnership whose focus is to protect the public by identifying and safeguarding victims and potential victims of modern slavery / human trafficking and by relentlessly targeting those who enable or facilitate this criminality.
Organisational structure
We are a principal local authority for the purposes of the Local Government Association (LGA) 1972. We provide a wide range of services to support residents and businesses in Derbyshire to thrive, these services are delivered directly by us and through external organisations. For 2023 to 2024, we worked towards 4 identified strategic priorities to direct improvement, these were:
- resilient, healthy, and safe communities
- high performing, value for money and resident-focussed services
- effective early help for individuals and communities
- a prosperous and green Derbyshire
We are currently split into 4 directorates:
- Adult Social Care and Health
- Children’s Services
- Place and Corporate Services
- Transformation
We have responsibility for providing a wide range of statutory and discretionary services for its residents, businesses, visitors, and partners. We manage a wide range of services which are delivered directly and through external contractors. Over 13,000 people work for us (excluding schools), with a budget of over £500 million per annum, making it one of the largest employers in Derbyshire. Many jobs range across a number of services, such as:
- social care
- education
- children's centres and nurseries
- highways
- street lighting
- community safety
- libraries
- waste management
- trading standards
- economic development
- tourism
- countryside parks
We procure goods, services and works from various suppliers and this is governed by its financial regulations and standing orders and also Public Contract Regulations 2015.
Countries of operation and supply
We only operate within the United Kingdom and would expect all suppliers of goods or services to have their own policy relating to working practices or modern slavery, or for evidence to be available to ensure their standards are in accordance with our expectations. We would request that our suppliers ensure the same of their own supply chains. We have limited contact with overseas sourcing but does require its suppliers to be aware of their own supply chains, as they can be several layers deep.
Due to the nature of our business, the risk of slavery and human trafficking is considered low, however we remain vigilant to any potential risks.
High-risk operations
Typical high-risk sectors for modern slavery include agriculture, leisure, hospitality, catering, cleaning, clothing, construction, manufacturing and health and social care. Our current contracts register highlights that we commission, a few labour-reliant companies in the construction sector and in health and social care. We also contract 61 private, voluntary, and independent (PVI) nursing homes, 78 PVI residential homes and 97 PVI home care agencies. This represents 43 more home care agencies than contracted at the time of writing last year’s modern slavery statement. In May 2023, Modern slavery charity “Unseen” recognised the care industry as one of the fastest growing emerging-risk industries.
We saw this in Derbyshire, and in the last 12 months we have adapted its business to work closer across departments and with its external partners to respond to issues arising with its contracted care providers. For more information about our work with health and care settings, See section on health and care settings. For more information on our procurement, see section on procurement and supply chains.
Responsibility and key contacts
Responsibility for our anti-slavery initiatives is as follows:
Policies
These are developed by officers employed by us and are then agreed by the relevant board or committee.
Risk assessment
These will be undertaken by officers within the relevant service area with support from human resources and procurement / commissioning support as required.
Investigations / due diligence
Any concerns regarding modern slavery or human trafficking should be raised with the community safety unit who will involve the Director of Legal and Democratic Services as required. We actively work to ensure the safeguarding of all vulnerable people and recognises at-risk groups including workers in certain roles such as cleaning and care work, and large numbers of adults in multiple occupancy domestic properties. We expect any employee / elected member who may witness or suspect criminality to report their concerns to their manager and / or the police.
Our whistleblowing policy also extends to any other individual who wants to raise an allegation of wrongdoing, malpractice, or illegality. This could include consultants, contractors, sub-contractors who are engaged in work for us and includes, councillors, volunteers or anyone who uses our services or a member of the public.
Receiving intelligence and initiating partner response
Our community safety unit has the responsibility for managing incoming intelligence of suspected modern slavery cases relating to victims and offenders. The community safety unit will work with partners in the Derby and Derbyshire Modern Slavery Partnership (DDMSP) to investigate potential cases, pursue offenders and support victims, sharing intelligence where appropriate. The community safety unit will also take a lead role in raising awareness of modern slavery with Derbyshire residents.
Relevant plans and policies
We adhere to the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and aligns its strategic working with the government's modern slavery strategy, which takes a 4P approach to combating this crime through the actions of Pursue, Prevent, Protect and Prepare.
We review our policies and procedures on an ongoing basis to ensure they remain compliant and fit for purpose. The following policies and procedures are considered key in our meeting the requirements of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and preventing slavery and human trafficking in its operations.
Council Plan 2021 to 2025
Our Council Plan is a key document that describes our priorities, resources and how progress is monitored. The Plan shows how we will work together with our partners and communities to be an Enterprising Council, delivering value for money and enabling local people and places to thrive.
Our strategic approach governs how we work, with and for communities, and in collaboration with partners. Three key areas of activity are taking the approach forward: 'Enterprising Council', 'Thriving Communities' and 'Vision Derbyshire'. Together these key areas place us in a stronger position to understand, to adapt and respond to future challenges and to bring about the changes needed to ensure future success.
Protecting individuals and responding effectively to modern slavery contributes to the following our priorities detailed in the Council Plan, as well as our outcomes:
Our priorities:
- resilient, healthy and safe communities
- effective early help for individuals and communities
- high performing, value for money and resident focussed services
- a prosperous and green Derbyshire
Our outcomes:
- happy, safe and healthy people
- resilient, thriving and green communities
- a strong, diverse and clean economy
- great places to live, work and visit
- high quality public services
Modern slavery is a multifaceted issue requiring a co-ordinated partnership response and encompassing many aspects. Our plan highlights the importance of working together to address issues such as fraud, financial abuse and ensuring that individuals and communities are supported and protected.
Safeguarding
We embrace its responsibility to develop, implement and monitor policies and procedures to safeguard the welfare of children and adults at risk. We have a comprehensive Safeguarding Policy and Procedures which all staff and Elected Members are expected to read and work within. We work within multi-agency partnerships namely the Derbyshire Safeguarding Adults Board and the Derby and Derbyshire Safeguarding Children Partnership to protect and safeguard people, this includes complying with the Safeguarding policies and procedures for adults and children. More information about modern slavery is also made available in the Derby and Derbyshire Safeguarding Adults Board Practice Guidance.
Human resources / employment policies and practices
We remain highly committed to advancing equality, eradicating unfair treatment, and promoting good relations across and between all our communities. We have clear and rigorous HR policies and procedures and high standards for employees that minimise the risk of any form of modern slavery existing within the organisation.
We have procedures and policies in place on all major employment issues – for example, disciplinary, grievance, harassment and bullying, code of conduct, confidential reporting procedures, as well as other policies that support fair treatment of employees including attendance management and ill health capability, performance capability, staff appraisals and recruitment and selection.
Our management guidance supplements the policies and procedures to to make sure they are applied consistently and fairly to employees and the service in different circumstances. Policies are constantly reviewed, and we endeavour to refresh these at least every 3 years to ensure they are fit for purpose.
Our recruitment policy and processes are transparent and reviewed regularly. This includes robust procedures for vetting new employees, which ensures they are able to confirm their identities and qualification (where necessary) and they are paid directly into an appropriate, personal bank account. To comply with legislation all prospective employees are asked to supply evidence of their eligibility to work in the UK. References are also requested and followed up. We use a job evaluation scheme, thereby ensuring that all employees are paid fairly and equitably. All new and changed jobs are evaluated by a panel of trained evaluators including trade union representatives.
Agency workers
We use only reputable employment agencies to source labour and verifies the practices of any new agency it is using before accepting workers from that agency. For temporary resource requirements which are not related to business services, we have an arrangement with Comensura for the supply of agency staff which simplifies the way agency workers are hired and this enables us to manage its use of agency workers more effectively.
We have chosen to adopt the national framework procured by the Yorkshire Purchasing Organisation (YPO) for the contract between itself and Comensura. Details of the expectations placed upon Comensura relating to modern slavery transparency are set out in Appendix 2. In addition to this, we expect the agencies that Comensura uses to follow the government code of practice when recruiting international candidates to a role in the UK Health and Social Care sector.
Employee code of conduct
Our code of conduct for employees makes clear the actions and behaviours expected of them when representing us. We strive to maintain the highest standards of employee conduct and ethical behaviour and breaches are investigated. The code also applies to contractors, agency staff, volunteers and those on student / work experience placements and anyone working on behalf of us. In addition, all registered social workers must operate in accordance with the codes of conduct in relation to their professional registration.
Procurement
We operate from its procurement strategy, detailing the steps taken to ensure that our county procurement function is best able to support the Council Plan, the Enterprising Council programme, and all applicable legislative requirements. It is informed by our procurement values and principles. We follow the National Procurement Strategy, which sets out local government's ambitions and priorities for the next 4 years, focusing on the 3 core themes; leadership; behaving commercially and; achieving community benefits.
The government have also produced a guidance document to help the public sector to tackle modern slavery in government supply chains, which we will use to inform best practice relating to its supply chains.
Confidential reporting (whistleblowing)
We encourage all its employees, customers, and other business partners to report any concerns related to the direct activities or our supply chains.
Our whistleblowing policy is intended to enable individuals or organisations to disclose information about malpractice internally and to provide them with protection from subsequent victimisation, discrimination or disadvantage. This will assist in detecting and deterring malpractice and, by demonstrating our accountability, maintain public confidence and a good reputation.
Equality, diversity and inclusion
Our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion policy is a declaration of its commitment to making equality an integral part of our business. As a major employer and provider of services we are committed to advancing equality of opportunity and providing fair access and treatment in employment and when delivering or procuring services. To support our commitment to equality, we embed equality, diversity, and inclusion into our everyday business. We expect all our councillors, managers, employees and contractors to treat everyone with dignity and respect and provide the best possible standards of service to all our customers.
We recently carried out public consultation on a new policy statement for equality, diversity and inclusion and a set of equality objectives to help deliver this statement. These are due to be considered by Cabinet in June 2024, after which they will be published on our websites.
Procurement and supply chains
We are one of the biggest purchasers of goods and services in Derbyshire, with an annual budget of £678.2 million in 2023 to 2024. We face increasing pressure to source goods and services that represent value for money, whilst meeting its own Procurement priorities and aligning with the Chartered Institute for Procurement and Supply (CIPS) best practice.
our procurement is also guided by the Cabinet Office Commercial Regulations. As of 31/03/2024, the value of live contracts with us exceeds one billion pounds, such is the reach of the organisation across many different sectors. It should be noted that the contracts register does not include spend through the Mosaic platform, which accounts for a large amount of additional spend from Adult Social Care.
Procurement contractors and service providers
Our procurement strategy sets out a clear vision and the key organisational outcomes that implementation of the Strategy is looking to deliver. We expect its providers and suppliers to have safeguarding policies, procedures, and training in place. From April 2016, all tender processes require bidders that have an annual turnover of more than £36 million to provide confirmation that they are compliant with the modern slavery Act 2015.
We are committed to ensuring that its contractors adhere to all relevant legislation and the highest standards of ethics, and requires its suppliers adhere to the suppliers and services terms and conditions. These may be adapted and tweaked by each department, for example, Adult Social Care contracting has its own amended Terms and Conditions that reflect the specific nature of its contracted services.
We are aware that the Public Procurement Act 2023 is due to go live in October 2024. This piece of legislation will transform public procurement, and for the first time will bring contract management and compliance under procurement legislation.
In the past 12 months, the procurement and contract compliance team have been preparing for this change by reviewing processes, staff training content and assessing our current contracts.
Risk-assessing and mapping of supply chains
The nature of global supply chains for goods and services is increasingly complex. Modern slavery can be found anywhere in the supply chain, but it tends to be much worse further down the value chain, where there is little visibility and where the poorest and most vulnerable work. In order to help eradicate modern slavery, the government has provided statutory guidance on transparency in supply chains for those organisations with an annual turnover of £36 million or more.
In 2023, we embedded the use of the Cabinet Office’s contract tiering tool as a form of risk-assessing. The tiering tool helps to classify contracts into 3 groups: gold, silver and bronze based on assessing the value, complexity and level of risk attached. Each tier requires a different level of contract management, with gold being those contracts with the highest risk and therefore greater scrutiny and compliance measures put in place, such as being subject to mandatory annual checks on known risk areas. Identified risks are logged on a risk register for the contract. Approximately 20% of our current contracts fall into the gold category.
We, as part of its supplier questionnaire, currently requires contractors to confirm that they comply with the modern slavery Act 2015 in relation to its supply chains, putting the emphasis on the contractor to ensure compliance. As a contract condition, contractors should notify us whenever there are any changes to their supply chains. Therefore, the onboarding checks that we make at the start of the contract lifespan should provide a basic level of reassurance until we are notified otherwise. With the changes being made in readiness for the Procurement Act 2023, we will have greater oversight of Tier 1 suppliers and their associated supply chains, with more resources to perform in-depth checks.
Working with suppliers and due diligence
Due diligence is the process of identifying human rights risks in an organisation’s supply chains, preventing them from occurring or mitigating those risks and reducing their impact. It includes planning remedial or corrective action. Human rights due diligence is not about the risk to the organisation, it is about the risk to the people involved in providing services and producing goods in supply chains.
As part of our initiatives to identify and mitigate risk, we undertake due diligence when considering taking on new suppliers or contractors, including taking measures such as:
- a risk-assessment to understand the contractors and sub-contractors that are utilised. All contractors must answer the mandatory part 1 and 2 of the supplier questionnaire
- specific questions relating to modern slavery on the supplier questionnaire during the tender process, for companies with an annual turnover of more than £36 million
- in readiness for the Public Procurement Act 2023, using the contract tiering tool, to assign a risk level to each contract
Adult Social Care has 3 contract management teams focussing on separate areas of business:
- domiciliary care and care homes
- supported living
- non Care Quality Commission registered suppliers
The contracts which are managed by adult social care contract management teams are subject to a quarterly risk-assessment process, which considers factors such as value, complexity of service, governance, account records, monitoring data and concerns raised by partners. This informs ongoing conversations with the contracted organisation about performance and risk management.
Human rights due diligence is also a key concept in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs). The government has set out a clear expectation in the National Action Plan on Implementing the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. UK organisations should respect internationally recognised human rights wherever they operate and treat the risk of causing or contributing to gross human rights abuses as a legal compliance issue.
Suppliers selection questionnaire
An extract from this document, which relates to modern slavery, can be found in Appendix 1.
Supplier contract management and social audits
Our modern slavery diligence does not end at the offering of a contract. A continuous cycle of risk assessment, supplier engagement and contract management is crucial to keep on top of emerging risk and work with suppliers to mitigate this. Contract reviews are undertaken by departmental contract owners.
In the past 12 months, we have recruited staff to a new team that covers 2 elements: contract management and contract compliance. The team will provide strategic support and development of appropriate contract management procedures, ensuring that key policies and standards are met by suppliers.
As mentioned in previous sections, gold contracts with the highest identified risk will be eligible for greater contract management resource and scrutiny. For modern slavery purposes, the community safety unit will work with the newly established contract management and compliance teams to share current industry-based concerns and best practice, to collaborate on creating proportionate requirements on the supplier to tackle modern slavery risk within the contract.
We may look to utilise the new excluded suppliers list and public sector debarment list to identify any companies, directors, sub-contractors and associates that have been excluded from tendering for contracts. Processes for how these will be utilised will be explored in 2024 to 2025.
Partnerships
Through its Community Safety function, we along with Derby City Council, leads the Derby and Derbyshire modern slavery Partnership. Bringing together public, private and voluntary organisations to disrupt perpetrators and support victims of human trafficking and modern-day slavery in Derby and Derbyshire and further afield. We strive for a community wherein awareness of all forms of human trafficking and modern-day slavery is commonplace and that across all sectors people work collectively to eradicate its existence in our community.
We comply with Section 52 of the modern slavery Act 2015 - Duty to Notify. Incidents of modern slavery are referred to the police and the Designated modern slavery Lead within Community Safety and is our direct link to Derbyshire police Criminal Exploitation Unit. The Head of Community Safety is also a member of the Derbyshire Serious Organised Crime Exploitation Board (SOCEx).
The Head of Procurement attends the East Midlands Head of Procurement Forum, to keep informed of best practice regionally. They also received updates from the Local Government Association. Our Principal Procurement and Contract Compliance Officer attends the East Midlands Super User Group, to track the implementation of the Public Procurement Act 2023, and also attends the Contract Management Pioneering Programme. This programme ensures that contracting authorities can effectively manage the key stages of commercial delivery.
Derby and Derbyshire Modern Slavery Partnership
The work of the Derby and Derbyshire Modern Slavery Partnership (the partnership) is driven by a vision to protect the public by identifying and safeguarding victims and potential victims of modern slavery / human trafficking and by relentlessly targeting those who enable or facilitate this criminality.
This vision was previously driven by a 3-year Strategy (2020-2023), which focuses on the 4 strategic themes – Pursue, Prevent, Protect and Prepare and are in line with government's Modern Slavery Strategy 2015, whereby reducing the threat and vulnerability to victims in Derbyshire as follows:
Reducing threat
Prosecuting and disrupting individuals and groups responsible for modern slavery (Pursue / Prevent).
Reducing vulnerability
Protecting vulnerable people from exploitation and reducing the harm caused by modern slavery through enhanced support (protect / prepare).
A refresh of this strategy has been put on hold as the partnership is moving into the SOCEx governance structure with its own 4P strategy (see section on serious organised crime and exploitation).
The partnership manages 2 subgroups to fulfil these strategic themes:
Pursue / prevent
A tactical and enforcement subgroup which identifies and responds to modern slavery related offences across Derby and Derbyshire. Attendees are made up of first responders (including ourselves) and other organisations with law enforcement powers.
Protect (adults and children)
Areas of business include working with / for individuals who have entered / exited the NRM and with those individuals were entering the NRM is not an option. The subgroup is made up of a range of first responders and those agencies with responsibilities to protect adults and children, for example local authorities, police, British Red Cross, Barnardo's and Rebuild.
We are represented by several officers on the subgroups including officers from: community safety, Trading Standards, emergency planning, adults safeguarding and children's safeguarding. The council has been involved in awareness raising around modern slavery through its social media forums such as Twitter (X), Facebook etc.
Serious organised crime and exploitation (SOCEx)
A multi-agency Serious Organised Crime and Exploitation (SOCEx) thematic structure has been implemented by Derbyshire Police, allowing operational, tactical, and strategic oversight of exploitation and serious organised crime. SOCEx is underpinned by information and intelligence sharing and aides the identification, disruption and enforcement against serious organised crime and modern slavery networks in Derbyshire.
Over the past 12 months, the SOCEx structure has co-ordinated partners to work closely on disrupting instances of child and adult exploitation, running operations to test businesses' response to potential exploitation scenarios, and co-ordinating high-intensity visits to properties known or suspected to be 'cuckooed'.
The Derby and Derbyshire modern slavery Partnership has continued to meet alongside the SOCEx meeting structure, offering a tailormade partnership arena to drive forward modern slavery work. It is planned that this modern slavery work will be absorbed into the SOCEx meeting structure in 2024 to 2025. The SOCEx Strategy for 2023 to 2025 can be found in appendix 4.
Emergency planning
We have a duty to be part of the multi-agency response to the investigations into modern slavery and trafficking by aiding victims (including facilitating and resourcing a place of safety) when they are taken to such a place during these investigations. We have a significant role to play in the setting up of emergency reception centres where multiple potential victims are rescued at the same time. The British Red Cross publication First Steps to Safety. The role of reception centres in supporting people out of exploitation is a useful piece of research and advice for professionals in ensuring the safety of victims rescued from exploitation.
In the past 12 months, our emergency planning team and community safety unit have worked with partners from Derby City Council, Derbyshire Police, Justice and Care, Rebuild East Midland, British Red Cross, East Midlands Special Operations Unit and Salvation Army to develop our planned response to when / where a reception centre may be required.
As part of this, we have identified and established a network of suitable reception centre locations across the county and city of varying sizes. We are currently developing an agreed procedure that details each partner's role in the running of small, medium and large centres and supporting victims at that location. This has relied on creating a network of key contacts and understanding each organisation’s capacity to respond. We have also developed an 'introduction to modern slavery' training package for emergency planning volunteers to upskill their understanding of the context and circumstances in which a reception centre may be required, and the support other agencies will offer.
Health and care settings
The care sector is one of the fastest growing sectors for modern slavery in the UK. As reported in our last modern slavery statement, in 2023 it was reported that there has been a 600% rise in calls to the modern slavery Helpline relating to care setting exploitation concerns.
According to the Gangmasters Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA), there are an estimated 152,000 vacancies in the care sector – approximately a 10% vacancy rate. As a result, in 2022, care workers were added to the UK's 'shortage occupation' list. Over 100,000 sponsorship visas have been issued to overseas workers as recruiters look further afield to source care staff to work in the UK. The main countries of sponsorship have been India, Bangladesh, and Nigeria.
The GLAA reports that high turnover of staff within this industry, and a general shortage of labour is increasing the risk of opportunists exploiting the situation for financial gain.
The GLAA and modern slavery charity 'Unseen' have documented some of the known risks of abuse for workers in the care sector in the care sector, which are becoming increasingly prevalent nationally:
- some workers may be forced to work excessive hours whilst not being paid for all of their hours. Low pay that is generally less than anticipated, is combined with higher-than-expected living costs
- exorbitant 'fees' paid to the recruiter for a range of services, from training to accommodation and transport. This can create a situation of 'debt bondage', where the worker must pay off the incurred debt over time, trapping them in their employment
- it is illegal for UK sponsors to charge recruitment fees, but this may occur with agents in the worker’s home country, and it is not uncommon for workers to use their savings to secure a job in the UK
- difficulty finding somewhere to live, which can leave workers at the mercy of an agent or employer - some agencies insist on workers using their substandard accommodation at exorbitant rent
- little understanding of employment rights and language barriers that compound the problem
- overall threat of 'removal of sponsorship' and therefore the risk of deportation if they complain
Manufactured 'sacking' which negates the worker’s visa and enables the recruiter to charge another set of recruitment fees.
We contract 61 private, voluntary and independent (PVI) nursing homes, 78 PVI residential homes and 97 PVI home care agencies. This represents 43 more home care agencies than contracted at the time of writing last year's modern slavery statement. There are approximately 10,000 residents receiving social care or support in Derbyshire.
In the past 12 months, the Derby and Derbyshire Modern Slavery Partnership have received a few complaints and intelligence relating to potential exploitation of overseas workers contracted to work in Derby and Derbyshire. We are collectively determined to investigate these allegations and intelligence, to protect workers and ensure that we are not indirectly facilitating modern slavery through our contracted services.
As a result, the modern slavery partnership has organised a monthly multi-disciplinary team (MDT) meeting where key partners can share intelligence and plan a strategic response to allegations and concerns. The MDT is attended by community safety, adult safeguarding and adult social care contract and commissioning officers from Derbyshire County Council and Derby City Council, as well as Derbyshire Police’s criminal exploitation team, the GLAA, HMRC, Home Office immigration and enforcement and the Home Office sponsor assurance and investigation team.
We have seen a spectrum of abuse concerns. Whilst investigations have not always pointed to modern slavery, there are concerns around poor recruitment and management practices which sit with contract compliance, key local findings from the MDT include:
- charging huge sums up-front for certificates of sponsorship which are then paid back through wage deductions
- not paying staff for their travel time
- not allowing annual leave entitlement to be taken
- staff working extremely long hours which may affect the quality of care
- poor accommodation offered to workers, which may be overcrowded or not worthy of the fees charged
- staff driving company cars that are not covered by insurance for business purposes. Some workers are driving without the correct UK licence
- some concerns that workers are being recruited by agencies/companies who then cannot fulfil their minimum contracted hours of work
- workers are often afraid to voice their concerns, for fear of sponsorship removal. They are not always aware of their rights to find a new sponsor within 60 days, and unsure where to find alternative employment
- any interventions may impact on the provision of vital care being given to residents that rely on their care workers - we have needed to carefully plan any interventions to minimise this impact, utilising staff rotas obtained by the contracting teams and our employed staff to backfill any immediate holes created by removing a worker from their role
Key pieces of work from the MDT include:
- investigations into a number of contracted care providers
- police operations to target unlicensed drivers operating in care vehicles – with multi-agency involvement in the planning of mitigating risk to care provision
- we have created a comprehensive Health and Care settings guidance document to help Social Care staff to recognise the signs, report concerns and respond to allegations, including practical advice on convening an MDT meeting
- we have conducted a review of cases as part of the national Police Operation Aidant, to establish whether any further action is required
Strategic assessment
The Derby and Derbyshire Modern Slavery Partnership has worked with Safer Derbyshire Research and Information (SDRI) analysts to create and cascade surveys to build a strategic assessment of sexual exploitation and criminal exploitation within the county and city. Key statutory partners, charities, faith organisations and government departments were invited to share their experiences and findings in the survey, to help the partnership to understand the different drivers of exploitation in Derbyshire.
Key findings from the survey that will inform future work of the partnership include:
- the main drivers and enablers for young people and adults of modern slavery sexual exploitation in Derbyshire
- specific geographic locations and types of premises that heighten the risk of sexual exploitation
- additional suggestions to help agencies be more proactive in identifying and tackling sexual exploitation
- additional initiatives to raise the profile of sexual exploitation for residents and businesses
- any barriers that impede the partnership's ability to identify and tackle sexual exploitation in Derbyshire
- suggestions for further understanding of the NRM process and duty to notify at local level
- reasons that potential victims choose not to enter the NRM
- which support organisations are commonly being referred into as part of victim support
- the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on ongoing victim identification and support
- the aspects of exploitation and slavery that respondents would like to know more about
Training and awareness raising
We have a programme of training for all employees. safeguarding awareness training (this is role specific), enables officers in community-facing roles to identify and know how to report incidents of abuse and neglect, including modern slavery and human trafficking. Our community safety unit provides a range of free e-learning webinar training on modern slavery, the training is available to all employees, partner agencies, charities and the third sector.
A substantial amount of training has been delivered to voluntary, statutory and private sector stakeholders. The training helps delegates gain an increased understanding of what modern slavery is, signs to look out for and develop skills in supporting people who may be victims of modern slavery in Derbyshire. Delegates gain an understanding of:
- what modern slavery is
- the scale and scope of modern slavery and human trafficking
- where modern slavery happens
- signs to look out for
- how modern slavery affects individuals
- how to raise concerns and gain help for people affected by modern slavery
- the national referral mechanism and local procedures
A dedicated section on modern slavery is available on the Safer Derbyshire website.
The Home Office e-learning for modern slavery first responders is also available for all the of our social care staff (adults and children), the training provides an understanding of what to do when looking to refer a victim into the NRM.
In the 12 months from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024, we have delivered the following awareness raising training to 901 delegates:
- 202 delegates completed e-learning training
- 609 delegates completed e-learning training for criminal exploitation and county lines
- 90 delegates from a range of partner agencies have attended a modern slavery webinar
We recognise that certain employees within the organisation should be required to complete training on modern slavery. To date, this has focussed on customer facing roles. We are, however, currently reviewing training and as part of this review; consideration will be given to prioritising training on modern slavery for those staff responsible for supply chain management and those working in HR and procurement. Further awareness raising by us has included:
Performance indicators
We will measure the effectiveness of our work to ensure that slavery and human trafficking is not taking place within our business or supply chains through:
- communication between all relevant departments to discuss emerging modern slavery issues and co-ordinate our practice
- investigating all allegations, complaints, whistleblowing reports received from employees, the public, or law enforcement agencies regarding modern slavery and human trafficking
- requiring staff including those working in supply chain management, first responders, procurement and HR to have completed training on modern slavery
- measuring the number of high-risk contracts with specific modern slavery contract management processes in place, and work towards putting additional proportionate engagement practices in place for these
- working with our statutory partners to further develop the modern slavery problem profile for Derby and Derbyshire
We will know the effectiveness of the steps that we are taking to raise awareness of modern slavery through:
- the number of internal staff, partners and voluntary sector individuals undertaking the Community Safety e-learning and webinar training on modern slavery and first responder training.
- monitoring the number of NRM referrals made from first responders from ourselves.
- monitoring the number of duty to notify (MS1) made from first responders from ourselves.
- post-training evaluations to measure participants’ confidence in identifying signs of modern slavery and their understanding of the process of reporting and accessing support
- undertaking community awareness programmes for adults and children
What we've done
Key accomplishments within the last 12 months include:
- We commissioned Rebuild East Midlands with Derby City Council to provide Pre-NRM support provider for potential victims of modern slavery.
- We, as part of the DDMSP, has worked with Safer Derbyshire Research and Information analysts to create a series of exploitation surveys distributed to first-responder partners, to inform its strategic assessment.
- We have played a lead role in the formation and running of monthly Multi-Disciplinary Team meetings to investigate allegations and concerns of exploitation in health and care settings
- We have worked with Derby City Council to produce guidance for social care staff on identifying exploitation and responding to allegations in health and care settings.
- We have worked with partners to develop an emergency reception centre procedure for processing rescued victims of modern slavery, and create a training package for volunteers.
- The community safety unit has completed the Shiva Foundation modern slavery scorecard and Local Government Association's modern slavery maturity matrix to map progress as an organisation and highlight gaps for future development. Our progress and next steps are summarised in the Appendices.
Modern Slavery Statement Action Plan progress
We have created an organisational action plan in relation to this statement, to highlight important actions that require driving forward in this coming year. Our progress against the aims set out in last year’s statement include:
We have created specific guidance for social care staff arising from an increase in health and care settings labour exploitation concerns and embedded multi-disciplinary team meetings to respond to this arising issue.
We have improved links on our website to access immediate guidance and support about modern slavery.
We have recruited to an embedded a contract compliance team, which have been undertaking an in-depth review of existing contracts, processes, and training, in readiness for the Public Procurement Act 2023.
Next steps
These actions have been identified as part of the organisation's action plan for this statement:
- collaboration between the contract management team and community safety unit to create proportionate requirements for high-risk gold contracts to mitigate modern slavery risk
- developing a mechanism for evaluating the longer-term impact and effectiveness of modern slavery training on our staff
- raise the profile of modern slavery within the organisation, by exploring options to include modern slavery in the Council Plan for 2025 onwards, or an organisational modern slavery policy in-lieu of a whole-organisation modern slavery lead
Approval
This statement is made pursuant of Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and constitutes our modern slavery statement for the financial year ending 31 March 2024.
This statement will be registered on the UK government modern slavery statement portal and will be updated on an annual basis.
List of appendices
- Appendix 1: modern slavery extract from suppliers selection questionnaire
- Appendix 2: Extract from Yorkshire Purchasing Organisation (YPO) Template agreement - utilised for modern slavery purposes between DCC and Comensura for the supply of temporary workers
- Appendix 3: Summary of our progress and next steps arising from Shiva Foundation’s modern slavery Scorecard and LGA modern slavery Maturity Matrix.
- Appendix 4: Serious Organised Crime and Exploitation (SOCEx) Strategy
Appendix 1
Suppliers selection questionnaire
All forms of supplier selection questionnaire used within county procurement follow the government Guidance Procurement and Policy Note (PPN) 03/23. The PPN 03/23 replaces PPN08/16 and applies to all contracting authorities in England and contracting authorities in Wales and Northern Ireland that exercise wholly or mainly reserved functions. The revised supplier selection questionnaire includes the assessment of supplier awareness and implementation of the Modern Slavery Act 2015.
Question 7.1
You are a relevant commercial organisation subject to Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 if you carry on your business, or part of your business in the UK, supplying goods or services and you have an annual turnover of at least £36 million. If you are a relevant commercial organisation, please:
- confirm that you have published a statement as required by Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act
- confirm that the statement complies with the requirements of Section 54 and any guidance issued under Section 54
Question 7.2
Your latest published statement must be available electronically, please provide:
- the web address, with precise reference to the documents
Question 7.3
If you have answered yes to questions in 7.1 or if you have answered no to question 7.2, please explain what measures have been taken to demonstrate your reliability despite the existence of a relevant ground for exclusion.
All answers are scored on a pass / fail basis.
Where the supplier is a commercial organisation subject to Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, contracting authorities should set appropriate selection criteria and methodology by which to assess compliance.
As compliance with the Modern Slavery Act is only relevant to UK bidders, criteria can be broadened to relate to non-UK bidders by asking them to provide a link to published modern slavery statements in their own jurisdiction or where these are not required, to a relevant company document containing the same type / level of information.
A pass/fail selection criterion may be set that either:
The bidder must have complied with the requirements contained within Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and associated guidance including information relating to:
- The organisation's structure, its business, and its supply chains.
- Its policies in relation to slavery and human trafficking.
- Its due diligence processes in relation to slavery and human trafficking in its business and supply chains.
- The parts of its business and supply chains where there is a risk of slavery and human trafficking taking place, and the steps it has taken to assess and manage that risk.
- Its effectiveness in ensuring that slavery and human trafficking is not taking place in its business or supply chains, measured against such performance indicators as it considers appropriate.
- The training and capacity building about slavery and human trafficking available to its staff.
Where the bidder is a non-UK supplier, the bidder must have provided a link to an equivalent statement or document which demonstrates information relating to 1 to 6 in the previous section.
Alternatively, if neither of these are met, but the bidder provides a satisfactory explanation and assurances that either requirement will be met before contract award, this will be sufficient to pass the selection criterion but will be verified prior to contract award.
The supplier selection questions also includes instruction to bidders regarding the applicability of response to consortium members or subcontractors as follows:
“If you are bidding on behalf of a group (consortium) or you intend to use sub-contractors, you should complete all of the selection questions on behalf of the consortium and / or any sub-contractors”.
Appendix 2
Modern slavery in the Yorkshire Purchasing Organisation (YPO) Framework agreement – Comensura
The following is an extract of the YPO framework agreement which sets out Comensura's expectations of agencies who supply relief staff to us:
The supplier shall:
- 15.1.1. In performing its obligations under this agreement, ensure that each of its suppliers and subcontractors shall comply with:
- 15.1.1.1. all applicable laws, statutes, regulations and codes from time to time in force including but not limited to the Modern Slavery Act 2015; and
- 15.1.1.2. the supplier code of conduct contained at schedule 3.
- 15.1.2. represent and warrant that at the date of this agreement:
- 15.1.2.1. neither the supplier nor any of its officers, employees or other persons associated with it has been convicted of any offence involving slavery and human trafficking; and
- 15.1.2.2. having made reasonable enquiries, to the best of its knowledge, has been or is the subject of any investigation, enquiry or enforcement proceedings by any government al, administrative or regulatory body regarding any offence or alleged offence of or in connection with slavery and human trafficking.
- 15.1.3. implement due diligence procedures for its own suppliers, subcontractors and other participants in its supply chains, to ensure that there is no slavery or human trafficking in its supply chains.
- 15.1.4. notify Comensura as soon as it becomes aware of:
- 15.1.4.1. any breach, or potential breach, of the supplier code of conduct; or
- 15.1.4.2. any actual or suspected slavery or human trafficking in a supply chain which has a connection with this agreement
- 15.1.5. upon request from the supplier shall prepare and deliver to Comensura, a slavery and human trafficking report setting out the steps it has taken to ensure that slavery and human trafficking is not taking place in any of its supply chains or in any part of its business.
- 15.1.6. the supplier shall maintain a complete set of records to trace the supply chain of all Services provided to Comensura in connection with this agreement and implement steps to monitor its compliance with the supplier code of conduct and provide evidence of the same to Comensura upon request.
- 15.2. The supplier shall, immediately it becomes aware, advise Comensura of any breach by the supplier of clause 15.1 and provide details of the same.
- 15.3. Breach of this Clause 15 shall be deemed a material breach of this agreement
Appendix 3
Summary of our progress and next steps arising from Shiva Foundation's modern slavery scorecard and LGA modern slavery maturity matrix
This resource has been created in collaboration by Shiva Foundation, Stop The Traffik and the Mekong Club, with funding from the Home Office. The scorecard allows local authorities to easily assess their modern slavery risk across a number of key thematic areas and provide advice on how they can improve.
We have committed to using this framework and accompanying guides as a measurement of the organisation’s competency. In summary, we scored strongly in:
- collaboration with other agencies to tackle modern slavery and support victims
- in-depth training of frontline staff
- having pathways for staff to report concerns
- having a clause in the procurement process that requires suppliers to tackle modern slavery
Over the next year, some of the next steps for us to take are highlighted by the scorecard, and detailed in our transparency statement are:
- include reference to our policies on responsible recruitment practices, protecting freedom of movement and freedom of association within this statement
- include practical examples of Derbyshire-specific case studies within our training
LGA modern slavery maturity matrix
The Local Government Association created this maturity matrix to provide a framework for us to assess their current progress and plan future activity on modern slavery.
The first 2 sections focus on how we manage our modern slavery work by considering the themes of leadership, resources and capacity needed to effectively manage modern slavery work across a council. The subsequent sections focus on identifying, referring, and supporting victims, disruption and prevention and mitigating the risk of modern slavery in our supply chains.
For each element within the different themes, councils can assess their current progress. Progress levels are identified as either basic first steps, early progress, substantial progress or mature.
Some of the areas that we scored strongly in are:
- service design and a core cohort of staff upskilled to lead on modern slavery cases
- collaborative and proactive work with partner organisations at strategic and operational level
- jointly commissioning services for victim support
- specific strategy for disruption and prevention activity, that distinguishes between work with victims, communities and perpetrators
Over the next year, some of the next steps for us to take as highlighted by the scorecard are:
- improve cross-council co-ordination of modern slavery matters, bringing departments together in collaboration
- promote modern slavery training to all councillors and appoint a modern slavery champion councillor
- implement a regular review of the impact of modern slavery training
- dedicated referral pathways for trusted partner organisations, for example, rebuild
For further information regarding this statement or copies of previous years modern slavery statements, contact Katya Bates, email katya.bates@derbyshire.gov.uk or Jamie Dean, email jamie.dean@derbyshire.gov.uk.