Agenda item

Report from the Strategic Director of Regeneration and Environment.

Recommendations:

That Cabinet:

1. Note the progress made to date.

2. Approve the Modern Slavery Transparency Statement 2025/26 and its publication on the Council’s website.

At the Chair’s invitation the Assistant Director, Community Safety and Street Scene introduced the report highlighting that the Co-operative Party’s Charter against Modern Slavery was adopted by the Council on 25 July 2018. This was the seventh year of delivery against that Charter. The Charter set out standards over and above any legal or statutory requirements, in terms of actions the Council would take to seek to address issues relating to modern slavery.

The charter focused on the procurement activity of the local authority ensuring that sufficient actions were taken to mitigate the risk of modern slavery through its supply chains.

A requirement of the charter was that the modern slavery transparency statement was republished yearly. This provided the latest national picture, in terms of the number of referrals to the national referral mechanism and how it compared to previous statements. There had been 126 local referrals to the national referral mechanism.

The Council took the opportunity to strengthen its approach to modern slavery each time a policy was reviewed or updated, for example the newly developed Child Exploitation Strategy included aspects around modern slavery.

Modern slavery was discussed, and awareness raised to over 450 general practitioners and health professional who attended an open learning event and members were engaged during Safeguarding Awareness Week. In addition, the team had worked across the rented sector, social landlords as well as private rented landlords through the licensing areas to raise awareness and how to spot the signs of modern slavery and understand how to refer people on for support.

The Council continued to work with South Yorkshire Police who had a specific modern slavery and organised crime unit. In particular to enhance reporting pathways and further encourage partners, council officers and community members to provide intelligence and information that could identify modern slavery and address it.

It was noted at an additional section had been included in the safeguarding children’s partnership manual, specifically at children from abroad, those that may be victims of modern slavery, trafficking and exploitation.

The Council continued to operate a number of single points of contact across the organisation, within different directorates. Eight officers had been trained and provided with additional information in order to support colleagues to continues to raise awareness within their directorates in relation to modern slavery.

The Chair invited members of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board (OSMB) to raise questions and queries on the points raised earlier. Councillor Yasseen welcomed the policy and noted that training was being delivered. How the Council was working with the police to dismantle the root causes of modern slavery was queried along with asking if the policy was helping to contribute to that? The Assistant Director, Community Safety and Street Scene indicated this was an excellent example of where members established a policy and the policy drove the activity both within the Council and across the partnership, more widely. The report highlighted the unit that sat within South Yorkshire Police, which worked across the regional footprint. It spent all its time looking at how to impact organised crime. Largely where individuals were trafficked it related to organised crime, therefore both the modern slavery agenda and the organised crime agenda overlapped.

Over a number of years, the Council had continued to work with the police through the Safer Rotherham Partnership and it had been noted that as awareness was raised both of modern slavery and organised crime there was an increase in the national referrals. In terms of the prevention work, there had been an increase in the identification of organised criminal networks across the region. This increase suggested that there was more awareness of this and gained the ability, with partners, to interfere with and disrupt that organised crime. It was clarified that the police were responsible for bringing criminals to justice, but the Council had significant powers and abilities, in terms of entering properties.

In response to a query by Councillor Marshall, the Assistant Director, Community Safety and Street Scene explained that in terms of monitoring compliance there was a couple of different stages. At an early stage when procuring goods and services the Council provide advice and guidance to ensure those suppliers were responsible in the context of modern slavery. The publication of a modern slavery transparency statement by those organisations, was an initial check, which set out their own commitment, actions and efforts to address modern slavery. It then featured as part of the ongoing, routine contract management.

Councillor Marshall then asked what action the Council took to identify and hold unscrupulous employees accountable for exploitation practices? The Assistant Director, Community Safety and Street Scene explained there were a number of different things. The report referred to some of the changes to the way that intelligence and information was provided to the police that was then shared, where appropriate, with the partnership. That information was triaged and used to direct some of that operational activity that could lead to direct interventions with particular employers. Businesses such as car washes, for example, had often become commonly linked to issues around modern slavery so a joint operation, between the police and immigration, would be established to identify any issues in terms of compliance or modern slavery risk.

The Chair highlighted that Action 1c of Appendix 2 noted that training for taxi drivers was being considered for delivery in early 2025 and sought clarification if this had taken place? The Assistant Director, Community Safety and Street Scene indicated it was still on track in terms of delivery but would provide written confirmation outside of the meeting.

In response to a query by the Chair the Assistant Director, Community Safety and Street Scene explained that since 2018 there had been a steady, year on year increase in the number of referrals made to the national referral mechanism. The increase did not indicate a growing problem, but it suggested a growing level of awareness and reporting as a result of the training provided.

Resolved: That the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board supported the recommendations that Cabinet:

1. Note the progress made to date.

2.    Approve the Modern Slavery Transparency Statement 2025/26 and its publication on the Council’s website.

Further actions that arose from discussions were that:

• Confirmation would be provided in relation to action 1C ‘To the public and targeted businesses such as letting agencies’ in the Modern Slavery Steering Group Action Plan, as to whether the training for taxi drivers had taken place and if not when it was scheduled for.