Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by the then Secretary of State for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office on 12 January 2021 (HC Deb, col 160) that they will "introduce fines for businesses that do not comply" with the Modern Slavery Act 2015, when they plan to bring forward these changes.

The landmark transparency provisions contained in section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 made the UK the first country in the world to require businesses with a turnover of £36m or more to report annually on the steps they have taken to prevent modern slavery in their operations and supply chains.

To enhance the impact of transparency and accelerate action to prevent modern slavery, the Government committed to strengthening the reporting requirements contained in section 54 and introduce new measures including financial penalties for organisations that fail to meet their statutory obligation to publish modern slavery statements. These measures require primary legislation and will be introduced when parliamentary time allows. The Government will publish guidance to help organisations prepare for the new reporting requirements when timings of legislation is clear.