The Government must review the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and make changes to Section 54 to improve transparency. In particular the Government should: a. Change provision 54(5) such that the areas of reporting in modern slavery statements become mandatory. b. Remove the provision in which companies are allowed to claim to have taken ‘no steps’ to address modern slavery. c. Introduce penalties and name and shame scheme for companies not disclosing Modern Slavery statements. d. Consider the creati...

The Government must review the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and make changes to Section 54 to improve transparency. In particular the Government should: a. Change provision 54(5) such that the areas of reporting in modern slavery statements become mandatory. b. Remove the provision in which companies are allowed to claim to have taken ‘no steps’ to address modern slavery. c. Introduce penalties and name and shame scheme for companies not disclosing Modern Slavery statements. d. Consider the creation of failure to prevent offences like those set out in the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023. (Recommendation, Paragraph 80) Type: recommendation | Number: 15 | Response status: not_addressed 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 organisation and supply chains. Section 54 has helped bring greater awareness of modern slaver