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 assess and monitor company buying practices in the UK’s clothing supply chains.

The Government expects all UK companies to respect human rights, workers’ rights and the environment throughout their operations and supply chains in line with the UN Guiding Principles on Human Rights and the OECD Guidelines for Responsible Business Conduct (RBC). If there are concerns related to a multinational enterprise contravening the OECD Guidelines, a case can be raised with the Office for Responsible Business Conduct.

In the Trade Strategy, the Government also launched a review into the UK’s approach to RBC, focused on tackling human rights and labour abuses, modern slavery, and environmental harms in global supply chains. This includes the fashion industry.