The UK government has announced £8.5 million of funding to help tackle modern slavery, which will provide over 50 extra analysts, specialists and investigators to assist police in investigations to improve intelligence. This followed the first annual report of the Anti-Slavery Commissioner earlier this month which highlighted that failures by police to record slavery as offences meant investigations were not launched and victims were not receiving the required justice/ support. The report also includes supply chain transparency aspects and reports on the Commissioner having approached companies (including Kia and Volvo) to ascertain what actions they were taking to eradicate slave labour from supply chains following an investigation into the use of slave labour in car washes in Kent. The Commissioner has also met with sustainability leaders from the big five supermarkets to discuss their commitments to respond to the risks of modern slavery in supply chains. The Report notes that in 2017, the Commissioner will continue to engage with businesses to encourage compliance.
