In February 2015 the Home Office consulted on S.54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 which will require businesses with a certain level of turnover to publish an annual slavery and human trafficking statement. In this statement a business must describe the steps they have taken to ensure that slavery and human trafficking is not taking place in any of their supply chains or their own business, or they must disclose that they have taken no such steps. A response has now been published to the consultation which indicates that: (i) the requirement to publish a statement for each financial year will apply to all commercial organisations in the UK with a total turnover of £36m or more; (ii) the requirement will commence in October 2015, with transitional provisions so that statements are not required where a businesses’ financial year end is within close proximity to the commencement date; and (iii) statutory guidance will be published about the new duty, to coincide with its introduction, including the kind of information to be included in a  statement, taking into account views expressed in the consultation.

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