Modern slavery statement checker
Does a supplier need a modern slavery statement? Check the £36 million test, then find its statement on the GOV.UK registry.
Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 requires larger organisations to publish a modern slavery statement every year. Use this page to check whether a supplier is likely to need one, then look it up on the official GOV.UK registry.
Who has to publish a statement
An organisation must publish a slavery and human trafficking statement for each financial year if it meets all four tests:
- it is a body corporate (such as a company) or a partnership, wherever it was set up
- it carries on a business, or part of a business, in the UK
- it supplies goods or services
- it has a total annual turnover of £36 million or more, including the turnover of its subsidiaries, worked out over the whole group and not only in the UK
The statement must be approved by the board (or equivalent), signed by a director or equivalent, and published with a prominent link on the organisation's website homepage. Smaller organisations can publish one voluntarily.
Reading the result
- Statement found on the registry. Open it and check the year, that it covers this organisation (group statements often list the companies they cover) and that it was signed by a director.
- Nothing on the registry. Submitting to the registry is voluntary for companies at the moment, so a missing entry doesn't mean the supplier has broken the law. Check the supplier's own website: the law requires a link on its homepage. If you still can't find one, ask the supplier for it.
- Turnover unknown. Large companies show their turnover in the accounts they file at Companies House. Remember that the £36 million test includes subsidiaries' turnover.
- Under the threshold. The supplier doesn't need a statement, but you can still ask modern slavery questions in your due diligence and ask it to accept your supplier code of conduct.
Public bodies and many larger buyers ask suppliers about modern slavery whatever their size. See our supplier due diligence questionnaire for questions to use.
Sources
- Modern slavery statement registry (GOV.UK)
- Transparency in supply chains: a practical guide (Home Office statutory guidance, PDF)
- Modern Slavery Act 2015, section 54 (legislation.gov.uk)
SupplierVault does this check in one click. On the Professional plan and above, the Modern slavery statement check looks the supplier up on the registry, shows what it found and saves the result on the supplier's record as evidence, with your name and the date.