Overview

This bill aims to prevent modern slavery in the procurement of public contracts in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. It mandates due diligence procedures to identify and address modern slavery within the supply chains of businesses bidding for public contracts.

Description

The Public Contracts (Modern Slavery) Bill requires Ministers and others involved in procuring public contracts to consider the risk of modern slavery. The Secretary of State will create regulations outlining due diligence processes to determine if a company is involved in modern slavery.

A company is deemed involved in modern slavery if it has exploitation within its supply chain, knowingly aids exploitation through its services, or fails to take reasonable steps to eliminate such exploitation. The regulations will also establish a reporting mechanism to help identify potential modern slavery in supply chains of companies bidding for public contracts. The definitions of "economic operator" and "exploitation" are taken from existing legislation (Public Contracts Regulations 2015 and Modern Slavery Act 2015 respectively).

The Act applies to England, Wales, and Northern Ireland and comes into effect two months after it is passed.

Government Spending

The bill does not specify any direct government spending figures. The costs will likely be indirect, related to implementing and enforcing the new regulations and procedures for due diligence.

Groups Affected

• Government Departments and Agencies: These bodies will need to implement the new due diligence procedures when awarding public contracts.
• Businesses bidding for public contracts: Companies will need to undertake due diligence to demonstrate they are not involved in modern slavery. Failure to do so could result in them being excluded from bidding.
• Suppliers in the supply chains of businesses bidding for public contracts: These businesses will also need to ensure compliance to avoid impacting the main contractor's ability to bid.
• Victims of Modern Slavery: The bill aims to protect them by preventing businesses involved in modern slavery from receiving public contracts.

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