(1)The Modern Slavery Act 2015 is amended as follows.
(2)In section 54 (transparency in supply chains etc), in the heading, at the end insert “: commercial organisations”.
(3)After section 54 insert—
54ZATransparency in supply chains etc: public authorities
(1)A public authority within subsection (2) must prepare a slavery and human trafficking statement for each financial year of the authority.
(2)A public authority is within this subsection if it—
(a)has a total budget of not less than an amount prescribed by regulations made by the Secretary of State, and
(b)is not a commercial organisation within section 54(2).
(3)For the purposes of subsection (2)(a), a public authority’s total budget is to be determined in accordance with regulations made by the Secretary of State.
(4)For the purposes of this section, a slavery and human trafficking statement for a financial year is a statement for the financial year that complies with the requirements specified in Schedule 4ZA.
(5)A slavery and human trafficking statement must be certified either—
(a)by the public authority to which it relates (the “first authority”), or
(b)if the first authority considers it appropriate, by another public authority.
(6)A statement is certified for the purposes of subsection (5) if it is signed—
(a)by the most senior of the officials who have responsibility for the day to day operations of the public authority doing the certifying (or, if there is more than one such senior official, by one of them), or
(b)in a case where a senior official mentioned in paragraph (a) is unable to act for any reason, by the next most senior official of that public authority who is able to act (or, if there is more than one such official, by one of them).
(7)A slavery and human trafficking statement may be signed under subsection (6) only after the end of the financial year to which the statement relates.
(8)A slavery and human trafficking statement must—
(a)contain a declaration by the official signing the statement that the statement is accurate to the best of their knowledge and belief, and
(b)specify the date on which it was signed.
(9)For the purposes of this Part, “public authority” means a person with functions of a public nature.
(10)But this Part does not apply to—
(a)the Security Service,
(b)the Secret Intelligence Service, or
(c)the Government Communications Headquarters.
(11)The Secretary of State may by regulations amend subsection (10) so as to—
(a)add or remove a public authority, or
(b)amend an entry relating to a public authority.
(12)Before making regulations under subsection (11) the Secretary of State must consult such persons as the Secretary of State considers appropriate.
(13)This section (and Schedule 4ZA) and section 54ZB bind the Crown.
(14)The reference to the Crown in subsection (13) does not include—
(a)His Majesty in His private capacity,
(b)His Majesty in right of the Duchy of Lancaster, or
(c)the Duke of Cornwall.
(4)In section 56(3) (interpretation), in the definition of “public authority”—
(a)after “authority”” insert “(except in Part 6)”;
(b)at the end insert “(for its meaning in Part 6, see section 54ZA(9))”.
(5)In section 58(4) (regulations subject to the affirmative procedure), after paragraph (jza) (inserted by section 44(5)) insert—.
(jzb)regulations under section 54ZA(2) (minimum total budget for application of section 54ZA);
(jzc)the first regulations under section 54ZA(3) (definition of total budget for purposes of section 54ZA);
(jzd)regulations under section 54ZA(11) which—
(i)add a public authority to section 54ZA(10), or
(ii)amend an entry in that provision relating to a public authority other than in consequence of the authority having changed its name;
Inserts a new provision into Modern Slavery Act 2015 — after section 54
Amends Modern Slavery Act 2015, section 54 — Transparency in supply chains etc
Modern Slavery Act 2015 — section 54
Transparency in supply chains etc : commercial organisations
(1) A commercial organisation within subsection (2) must prepare a slavery and human trafficking statement for each financial year of the organisation.
(2) A commercial organisation is within this subsection if it—
(a) supplies goods or services, and
(b) has a total turnover of not less than an amount prescribed by regulations made by the Secretary of State.
(3) For the purposes of subsection (2)(b), an organisation's total turnover is to be determined in accordance with regulations made by the Secretary of State.
(4) A slavery and human trafficking statement for a financial year is—
(a) a statement of the steps the organisation has taken during the financial year to ensure that slavery and human trafficking is not taking place—
(i) in any of its supply chains, and
(ii) in any part of its own business, or
(b) a statement that the organisation has taken no such steps.
(5) An organisation's slavery and human trafficking statement may include information about—
(a) the organisation's structure, its business and its supply chains;
(b) its policies in relation to slavery and human trafficking;
(c) its due diligence processes in relation to slavery and human trafficking in its business and supply chains;
(d) the parts of its business and supply chains where there is a risk of slavery and human trafficking taking place, and the steps it has taken to assess and manage that risk;
(e) its effectiveness in ensuring that slavery and human trafficking is not taking place in its business or supply chains, measured against such performance indicators as it considers appropriate;
(f) the training about slavery and human trafficking available to its staff.
(6) A slavery and human trafficking statement—
(a) if the organisation is a body corporate other than a limited liability partnership, must be approved by the board of directors (or equivalent management body) and signed by a director (or equivalent);
(b) if the organisation is a limited liability partnership, must be approved by the members and signed by a designated member;
(c) if the organisation is a limited partnership registered under the Limited Partnerships Act 1907, must be signed by a general partner;
(d) if the organisation is any other kind of partnership, must be signed by a partner.
(7) If the organisation has a website, it must—
(a) publish the slavery and human trafficking statement on that website, and
(b) include a link to the slavery and human trafficking statement in a prominent place on that website's homepage.
(8) If the organisation does not have a website, it must provide a copy of the slavery and human trafficking statement to anyone who makes a written request for one, and must do so before the end of the period of 30 days beginning with the day on which the request is received.
(9) The Secretary of State—
(a) may issue guidance about the duties imposed on commercial organisations by this section;
(b) must publish any such guidance in a way the Secretary of State considers appropriate.
(10) The guidance may in particular include further provision about the kind of information which may be included in a slavery and human trafficking statement.
(11) The duties imposed on commercial organisations by this section are enforceable by the Secretary of State bringing civil proceedings in the High Court for an injunction or, in Scotland, for specific performance of a statutory duty under section 45 of the Court of Session Act 1988.
(12) For the purposes of this section—
“commercial organisation” means—
(a) a body corporate (wherever incorporated) which carries on a business, or part of a business, in any part of the United Kingdom, or
(b) a partnership (wherever formed) which carries on a business, or part of a business, in any part of the United Kingdom,
and for this purpose “business” includes a trade or profession;
“partnership” means—
(a) a partnership within the Partnership Act 1890,
(b) a limited partnership registered under the Limited Partnerships Act 1907, or
(c) a firm, or an entity of a similar character, formed under the law of a country outside the United Kingdom;
“slavery and human trafficking” means—
(a) conduct which constitutes an offence under any of the following— (i)section 1, 2 or 4 of this Act, (ii)section 1, 2 or 4 of the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Criminal Justice and Support for Victims) Act (Northern Ireland) 2015 (c. 2 (N.I.)) (equivalent offences in Northern Ireland), (iii) section 1 or 4 of the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Act 2015 (asp 12) (equivalent offences in Scotland), or
(b) conduct which would constitute an offence in a part of the United Kingdom under any of those provisions if the conduct took place in that part of the United Kingdom.
Amends Modern Slavery Act 2015, section 56 — Interpretation
Modern Slavery Act 2015 — section 56
A1 For the purposes of sections 48 to 53 (identification and protection of victims), “victim of slavery” and “victim of human trafficking” have the meanings given in regulations made by the Secretary of State under section 69 of the Nationality and Borders Act 2022.
(1) For the purposes of any other provision of this Act a person is a victim of slavery if he or she is a victim of—
(a) conduct which constitutes an offence under section 1, or
(b) conduct which would have constituted an offence under that section if that section had been in force when the conduct occurred.
(2) For the purposes of any other provision of this Act a person is a victim of human trafficking if he or she is the victim of—
(a) conduct which constitutes an offence under section 2, or would constitute an offence under that section if the person responsible for the conduct were a UK national, or
(b) conduct which would have been within paragraph (a) if section 2 had been in force when the conduct occurred.
(3) In this Act—
“child” means a person under the age of 18;
“country” includes territory or other part of the world;
“immigration officer” means a person appointed as an immigration officer under paragraph 1 of Schedule 2 to the Immigration Act 1971;
“public authority” (except in Part 6) means any public authority within the meaning of section 6 of the Human Rights Act 1998, other than a court or tribunal; (for its meaning in Part 6, see section 54ZA (9) )
“UK national” has the meaning given by section 13.
About the provision this changes
Cases citing s.56: 2 — EXR, R (on the application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2026] EWHC 1568 (Admin); AAM, R (on the application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2025] EWHC 447 (Admin)
Amends Modern Slavery Act 2015, section 58 — Regulations
Modern Slavery Act 2015 — section 58
(1) Any power of the Secretary of State to make regulations under this Act is exercisable by statutory instrument.
(2) A statutory instrument containing regulations made by the Secretary of State under this Act is subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament, unless—
(za) it contains only regulations under section 19A(5) or 26A(5) (power to prescribe persons responsible for electronic monitoring of compliance with orders under Part 2),
(a) it contains only regulations under section 61 (commencement), or
(b) it contains regulations to which subsection (4) applies.
(3) A statutory instrument containing regulations to which subsection (4) applies may not be made unless a draft of the instrument has been laid before, and approved by a resolution of, each House of Parliament.
(4) This subsection applies to—
(a) regulations under section 14(4) (power to amend Schedule 1);
(aa) regulations under section 19(6A) (notification requirements for slavery and trafficking prevention orders);
(ab) regulations under section 26(6A) (notification requirements for slavery and trafficking risk orders);
(b) regulations under section 31(1) (power to amend section 30);
(c) regulations under section 43(9) which remove a public authority from Schedule 3, other than in consequence of the authority having ceased to exist;
(d) regulations under section 43(9) which contain the provision mentioned in section 43(10) (power to modify section 43);
(e) regulations under section 45(8) (power to amend Schedule 4);
(f) regulations under section 48(6) (independent child trafficking guardians: general regulations);
(g) regulations under section 50 (identifying and supporting victims);
(h) regulations under section 52(6) which remove a public authority from section 52(5), other than in consequence of the authority having ceased to exist;
(i) regulations under section 54(2) (minimum turnover for application of section 54);
(j) the first regulations under section 54(3) (definition of turnover for purposes of section 54);
(jza) regulations under section 54(5) (power to amend Schedule 4ZA);
(jzb) regulations under section 54ZA(2) (minimum total budget for application of section 54ZA);
(jzc) the first regulations under section 54ZA(3) (definition of total budget for purposes of section 54ZA);
(jzd) regulations under section 54ZA(11) which—
(i) add a public authority to section 54ZA(10), or
(ii) amend an entry in that provision relating to a public authority other than in consequence of the authority having changed its name;
(ja) ................................
(k) regulations under section 57(2) (consequential provision) which amend, or repeal any provision of, an Act.
(5) Regulations made by the Scottish Ministers under section 43(7)—
(a) are subject to the affirmative procedure if they contain—
(i) provision removing a public authority from Schedule 3, other than in consequence of the authority having ceased to exist, or
(ii) the provision mentioned in section 43(10) (power to modify section 43);
(b) otherwise, are subject to the negative procedure.
(6) The power of the Department of Justice in Northern Ireland to make regulations under section 43(8) is exercisable by statutory rule for the purposes of the Statutory Rules (Northern Ireland) Order 1979 (S.I. 1979/1573 (N.I. 12)).
(7) Regulations made by the Department of Justice in Northern Ireland under section 43(8) are subject to negative resolution (within the meaning of section 41(6) of the Interpretation (Northern Ireland) Act 1954 (c. 33 (N.I.))), unless they are regulations to which subsection (9) applies.
(8) The Department of Justice in Northern Ireland may not make regulations to which subsection (9) applies unless a draft of the regulations has been laid before, and approved by a resolution of, the Northern Ireland Assembly.
(9) This subsection applies to regulations under section 43(8) which contain—
(a) provision removing a public authority from Schedule 3, other than in consequence of the authority having ceased to exist, or
(b) the provision mentioned in section 43(10) (power to modify section 43).
(10) Regulations made under this Act may—
(a) make different provision for different purposes;
(b) include saving, transitional, transitory, supplementary or consequential provision.
(10A) Regulations under section 19A(5) or 26A(5) may make different provision for different areas.
(11) This section (apart from subsection (10)) does not apply to regulations under paragraph 5 of Schedule 2.
Explanatory Notes · published by the Government with the Bill
350. This clause extends the duty to report annually on actions taken to address modern slavery in supply chains to the public sector.
351. Subsection (1) amends section 54 of the MSA 2015.
352. Subsection (2) inserts the term “commercial organisations” into the end of the header in section 54 of the MSA 2015.
353. Subsection (3) inserts a new section 54ZA (Transparency in supply chains etc: public authorities) after section 54.
354. Subsections (1) to (13) of new section 54ZA provide details about how and when a public authority should report and provide an overarching definition of a public authority, including the power for the Secretary of State to make regulations about prescribing the total budget threshold a public authority must have to meet the requirements, and how that is to be calculated. These subsections outline that one statement should be produced per financial year after commencement if the public authority meets the required annual budget threshold. A statement from a public authority must contain a declaration by the official signing the statement is accurate to the best of their knowledge and belief. The statement must be signed and dated by the most senior member of the officials who have responsibility for the day to day operations of the public authority, or the next most senior official, should the most senior person be unable to act for any reason. The statement must be signed only after the end of the financial year to which they relate.
355. New section 54ZA also excludes the security services, the King in his personal capacity and the Duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall from having to report and confers a regulation making power on the Secretary of State to add, amend or delete an organisation from the list that exempts public authorities from reporting, placing an onus on the Secretary of State to consult with those they consider appropriate before doing so.
356. Subsection (4) removes the definition of “public authority” and inserts a new definition based on that in section 6 of the Human Rights Act 1998.
357. Subsection (5) provides that regulations made under this clause are subject to the affirmative procedure.