Transparency in supply chains - inclusion of Scottish public bodies: consultation analysis

2. Background

The consultation sought views on proposals to extend the reporting requirements to Scottish public bodies for the publication of modern slavery statements as part of work to improve Transparency in Supply Chains. It also sought views on the mechanisms for this reporting and associated enforcement regimes.

Alongside commercial organisations, the public sector has a crucial role to play in addressing the risks of modern slavery in its supply chains, with £13.3bn of procurement spend annually across the Scottish public sector alone. Many public sector organisations have already started to identify and address modern slavery risks within their supply chains and beyond, and the UK Government propose that UK public sector bodies be included in the formal requirement to publish a modern slavery statement. As per the requirements for commercial organisations, this would extend to public sector organisations with an annual budget – as opposed to turnover – of £36 million or more, unless they are already captured by the existing legislation.

The UK Government has a number of proposals upon which the consultation sought views, many of which will form part of the proposed UK Modern Slavery Bill announced on 10 May 2022 and stem from the 2018 Independent Review of the Modern Slavery Act. The UK previously consulted on these proposals in July-September 2019 and this consultation allowed the Scottish Government to provide targeted questions to public sector bodies ahead of further policy development.

Proposals include:

• Inclusion of public bodies in the reporting requirement for a modern slavery statement.
• The introduction of a single reporting deadline on which all organisations must publish their statement each year. This will improve the ease in which action across organisations can be compared, assisting in the monitoring of compliance and the provision of support to organisations.
• Mandating that the reporting of specific topics within the statement be compulsory to facilitate transparency.