Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that UK fashion brands comply with labour standards in their global supply chains; and what enforcement mechanisms are in place to address violations.

The Government expects all UK businesses to respect human rights and the environment throughout their supply chains in line with the OECD Guidelines and UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. Section 54 of the UK’s Modern Slavery Act 2015 requires businesses with a turnover of £36m or more to publish modern slavery statements.

The Office for Responsible Business Conduct promotes the OECD Guidelines and provides a non-judicial grievance mechanism for complaints of non-observance by UK businesses.

The Government also launched a review in the Trade Strategy, into the UK’s approach to responsible business conduct, focused on tackling human rights and labour abuses and environmental harms in global supply chains. We shall update the House when the review is complete.