'The Sancroft-Tussell Report: Eliminating Modern Slavery in Public Procurement' 20 May 2019

In 2017/18, the government spent around £284 billion buying goods, services and works from external suppliers, accounting for around one in three pounds of public sector spending... 

...It is essential that everything possible is done to enforce the provisions of the Act and ensure spending on public services does not inadvertently enable modern slavery.

...Sancroft and Tussell have produced a second edition of the report: Eliminating Modern Slavery in Public Procurement... [examining] the modern slavery reporting of central government’s top 100 suppliers...

...Moving beyond legal compliance, it analyses how companies are using performance indicators to demonstrate commitment to tackling this serious crime and measure progress over time...

Key findings

High spending power [of] UK government...

Legal compliance remains low: almost 1/3... not compliant...

Suppliers with no-statement: Three companies... have no statement...

Spending on non-compliance: Government spent £2.8 billion on non-compliant suppliers within top 100.

Failure to measure performance: Only nine companies reported on progress...

Few businesses committing to operational change: Just 34% of compliant companies state plans for coming year that involve a change in business practice.