Modern Slavery Act 2015 Transparency Statement 2024

Colchester City Council refreshes its modern slavery risk assessment annually. From April 2016, all tender processes have required bidders to provide confirmation that they are compliant with the Modern Slavery Act. An ‘Invitation To Tender’ (ITT) Questionnaire for all potential suppliers (all industries) should be issued to all bidders as part of the modern slavery supplier risk assessment. If a company cannot confirm they have taken appropriate steps to identify risk to human rights, within themselves and their supply chain, their bid should be excluded from the procurement process.

The Council also requests links to other organisations’ modern slavery transparency statements in the ITT questionnaire, should the organisation be required to publish one. When assessing the modern slavery risk of products that have been procured, each component of the product is considered, and Transparency in Supply Chain (TISC) statements are requested from suppliers.

For prioritised suppliers, a formal written request is issued in order that the supplier provide information about their approach to tackling modern slavery. In addition to this, a contractual clause is set out requiring suppliers to have specific approaches to tackling modern slavery in place.

Following a review of our current procurement procedures relating to modern slavery, an additional link for suppliers was included to the Modern Slavery Training: Resource Page. The Council procures goods and services from various suppliers, and this is governed by our procurement strategy.