Government departments work together closely to enhance the Government’s approach to tackling forced labour in supply chains. The principal departments involved in this work are the Home Office, the Department for Business and Trade (DBT), the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and Cabinet Office. The Home Office is responsible for the Modern Slavery Act 2015, including the ‘Transparency in Supply Chains’ provision, the associated statutory guidance and management of the modern slavery statement registry, which brings modern slavery statements together on a single platform. DBT houses the new Office for Responsible Business Conduct, responsible for tackling supply chain harms including forced labour. DBT also leads on wider business regulation and trade measures, including non-financial reporting, free trade agreements and export controls. DBT has policy responsibility for due diligence in supply chains and import controls, with support from the Home Office and the FCDO. The Fair Work Agency (FWA) will be an executive agency of DBT by April 2026. The creation of the FWA will consolidate existing domestic labour market enforcement functions, including the responsibilities currently carried out by the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA). The FWA will provide a single point of contact for workers and businesses to report labour exploitation and related concerns within the UK providing faster, more coordinated action. The FCDO is responsible for the UK’s international approach to eradicating all forms of forced labour in line with achieving Sustainable Development Goal 8.7. The FCDO works with multilateral partners to forge a united global response to eradicating forced labour. It also works bilaterally to deliver a range of regional and country development programmes to reduce forced labour overseas. The FCDO is responsible for engaging internationally to promote adherence to the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs). Government departments are responsible for their own procurement decisions, but they operate within a legislative and policy framework led by the Cabinet Office. The Procurement Act which came into force in February 2025 strengthens the exclusion regime in relation to modern slavery to prevent exploitative companies from securing government contracts. The Act also introduced a new central debarment list to further strengthen the Government’s approach to modern slavery in procurement. Suppliers can be investigated for debarment if modern slavery grounds are met and they may be placed on a central debarment list of suppliers who must or may be excluded across the whole of the public sector. In the Clean Energy Industries Sector Plan, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) committed to position social value standards for fair work and ethical supply chains at the heart of the Department’s Growth Mission for clean energy industries. This includes the department supporting supply chain transparency; boosting the health, diversity, and competitiveness of domestic supply chains; and embedding fair and ethical work standards into its own public procurement and non-procurement spend. The Government recognises the importance of a joined-up approach to forced labour and responsible business conduct. To this end, DBT has established senior cross-Whitehall governance to support the RBC Review. Furthermore, there are cross-government Ministerial meetings involving the Department for Business and Trade, the Home Office, the Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office and the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero to discuss how Government can accelerate its work on this critical cross departmental issue. 4 The UK’s current approach to transparency reporting JCHR Recommendations 3, 4 and 5 3. Government should strengthen the reporting duty under s.54 by establishing effective accountability mechanisms for non-compliance. (Paragraph 60) 4. Government should remove s.54(4)(b) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, which enables companies to comply by reporting that no action has been taken. (Paragraph 61) 5. Government should extend the TISC reporting duty to public organisations. (Paragraph 62) Government Response Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 established the UK as the first country in the world to require businesses to report on how they are tackling modern slavery in their operations and supply chains. Section 54 has helped bring greater awareness of modern slavery in boardrooms across the country but it is clear a decade after the Act, the UK’s approach needs to evolve. The Home Office is actively considering legislative vehicles to strengthen the Act. Alongside the DBT-led Responsible Business Conduct Review, the Government will continue to consider how it may strengthen the Section 54 regime, including the reporting requirements, turnover threshold, penalties for non-compliance and regime’s application to public bodies. Significant