Modern Slavery Statement

This statement constitutes our actions to ensuring there is no slavery or human trafficking in its own business and its supply chains. This statement is for the financial year ending 31 March 2017 to meet the requirements of Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015.

As part of the public sector and a member of the Derby and Derbyshire Modern Slavery Partnership, we are committed to improving its practices to identify and combat this crime. The Council recognises its responsibility to take a robust approach to modern slavery and human trafficking as an employer, commissioner and contractor of other bodies, and acknowledges its duty to notify the Secretary of State of suspected victims of slavery or human trafficking as required by section 52 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015.

The Council is absolutely committed to preventing and taking action against identified slavery and human trafficking in its corporate activities, its supply chains and the wider community, and ensuring these are free from slavery and human trafficking.

This statement covers the activities of Derby City Council. The statement covers direct employees of the Council, agency workers and services delivered on behalf of the Council by third party organisations and in the council’s supply chains.

Our structure, our business and our supply chains

The Council Cabinet has overall responsibility for services in Derby and works within the overall policies and budget agreed by Council - a meeting of all elected members. Council Cabinet makes recommendations to Council on key items of policy and the annual budget. The Council has 51 elected councillors and the Council is led by a Cabinet of 9 Portfolio Holders.

The vision for the city is a city which is safe, strong and ambitious:

• Safe - where people are safe and the vulnerable are put first and supported.
• Strong - where people work together, can enjoy good health and wellbeing throughout their life and feel that they belong to a thriving community.
• Ambitious - where we support our children and young people to achieve their full potential, skills are valued, jobs and businesses are growing and we have the infrastructure to create a city for the future.

The Council is currently split into three directorates and is led by Chief Executive:

• Organisation and Governance
• People Services
• Communities and Place

Derby City Council is the unitary authority for the city of Derby with responsibility for providing a wide range of statutory and discretionary services for its residents, businesses, visitors and partners. The council manages a wide range of services which are delivered directly and through external contractors. Derby City Council only operates within the United Kingdom.

Just over 6,000 people work for the Council, making it one of the largest employers in the city. The jobs they do range across a large number of services such as social care, community safety, housing, local planning, economic development, tourism, street cleansing, parks, leisure and waste management.

The Council procures goods and services from various suppliers and this is governed by our procurement strategy.

Policies

The Council reviews its policies and procedures on an ongoing basis to ensure they remain compliant and fit for purpose. The following policies and procedures are considered to be key in meeting the requirements of the Modern Slavery Act.

Council Plan 2016-2019
The Council Plan is a key document that describes our priorities, resources and how we will monitor progress. ‘Our People’ Organisational Development Plan aims to support and develop the people it employs, growing their knowledge and skills, now and for the future.

Safeguarding
The Council embraces its responsibility to develop, implement and monitor policies and procedures to safeguard the welfare of children and adults at risk. The Council has a comprehensive Safeguarding Policy which all staff and councillors are expected to read and work within. The Council works within multi-agency partnerships to protect and safeguard people.

HR/Employment Policies and Practices
The Council has a robust and ongoing Policy Review Programme with input from HR Advisors, Senior Managers, Team Leaders, Employees and Unions, reporting to the Joint Consultative Committee and Management Team. The Programme reviews all HR policies on a rolling programme, ensuring that these comply with national legislation and guidance.

Recruitment
The Council’s recruitment processes are transparent and reviewed regularly. They include robust procedures for vetting new employees, which ensures they are able to confirm their identities and qualifications, and they are paid directly into an appropriate, personal bank account. To comply with the Asylum, Immigration and Nationality Act 2006, all prospective employees are asked to supply evidence of their eligibility to work in the UK. References are also requested and followed up.

Agency Workers
The Council uses only reputable employment agencies to source labour and verifies the practices of any new agency it is using before accepting workers from that agency.

Pay
The Council operates a Job Evaluation Scheme to ensure that all employees are paid fairly and equitably. As part of its commitment to being a good employer, our aspiration is to apply the principles in the Derby City Employment Charter to all directly employed staff at the Council and to staff working for companies that the Council has a business relationship with through procurement.

Employee Code of Conduct
The Council’s Employee Code of Conduct makes clear to employees the actions and behaviours expected of them when representing the Council. The Council strives to maintain the highest standards of employee conduct and ethical behaviour and breaches are investigated.

Whistleblowing
The Council encourages all its employees, customers and other business partners to report any concerns related to the direct activities or the supply chains of the Council. The Council’s whistleblowing procedure is designed to make it easy for employees to make disclosures, without fear of retaliation.

Procurement Contractors and Service Providers
The Council is committed to ensuring that its contractors adhere to the highest standards of ethics. The Council expects its key contractors to have safeguarding policies, procedures and training in place. From April 2016, all tender processes require bidders to provide confirmation that they are compliant with the Modern Slavery Act 2015. In addition, before being added to the finance system, all new suppliers will have provided confirmation of compliance.

Equality and Diversity
The councils Equality, Dignity and Respect Policy is a declaration of its commitment to making equality an integral part of the councils business. This includes a commitment to use our influence and purchasing power to help make equality a reality for all and to take action to eradicate discrimination and inequality when delivering services, when employing others to deliver services on our behalf and when providing funding to others to provide services.

Partnerships

Through its Community Safety function, the council leads the Derby & Derbyshire Modern Slavery Partnership Bringing together public, private and voluntary organisations to disrupt perpetrators and support victims of human trafficking & modern day slavery in our area and further afield. We strive for a community wherein awareness of all forms of human trafficking & modern day slavery is commonplace and that across all sectors people work collectively to eradicate its existence in our community.

The Council works in partnership with a wide range of agencies to prevent abuse and neglect, to detect and report occurrences and to support victims. This includes the Derby Safeguarding Children and Adults Boards.

Training and Awareness

The Council has a programme of induction and ongoing mandatory training that all employees must complete, including Safeguarding Awareness Training. This enables officers in community-facing roles to identify and know how to report incidents of abuse and neglect, including modern slavery and human trafficking.

Training on Trafficking, Exploitation and Modern Slavery is delivered on a regular basis to employees and partners. The content includes:

• What Modern Slavery is
• Risk occupations, environments and sectors
• How the crime can be identified
• What can be done to flag potential concerns
• How to support potential victims
• Who to speak to for support and guidance
• The Duty to Notify

A dedicated page to modern Slavery is available to all employees on the Councils Intranet. A similar page will shortly be available on the public facing web site.

The council recognises that certain employees within the organisation should be required to complete training on modern slavery. To date, this has focussed on customer facing roles. Consideration will be given to prioritising staff responsible for supply chain management; working in HR and Procurement within the Council to complete training on modern slavery. We are currently reviewing existing training materials for this purpose.

Performance indicators

Derby City Council is in the process of setting its key performance indicators (KPIs) in light of the introduction of the Modern Slavery Act 2015. As a result, we will:

• require all staff working in supply chain management, Procurement and HR to have completed training on modern slavery by 31 March 2018
• review the system for supply chain verification currently in place, whereby we evaluate potential suppliers before they enter the supply chain; and
• review our existing supply chains for compliance
• review and evaluate high risk supply chains, occupations and contracted services

Due diligence

We adhere to Section 52 of the Modern Slavery Act - Duty to Notify. Incidents of modern slavery are referred to the police and the Designated Modern Slavery Lead within Community Safety. Who is the council’s direct link to Operation Wilberforce and Local Serious and Organised Crime Board.

The council works to ensure the safeguarding of all vulnerable people and recognises at risk groups including workers in certain occupations such as car washes, care work and large numbers of adults in multiple occupancy domestic properties.

Any investigation and/or victim support in relation to modern slavery is conducted through the partnerships Modern Slavery Multi Agency Tactical Response Agreement.

Review and Approval

This statement has been approved by the Council’s Chief Officer Group and the Portfolio Holder for Neighbourhood’s and Public Protection. This statement will be reviewed annually, and adopted formally each September. Responsibilities for the Statement and Modern Slavery are designated as:

Modern Slavery Transparency Statement: Portfolio Holder

• The Portfolio Holder is responsible for the Council’s Modern Slavery Statement.

Developing and Updating the Statement: Designated Modern Slavery Lead

• The Designated Modern Slavery Lead within Community Safety, in conjunction with HR, Procurement, Safeguarding and Legal, monitors and updates the Modern Slavery Statement in line with national guidelines and organisation development priorities.

Risk Assessments and Prevention: Designated Modern Slavery Lead

• The Designated Modern Slavery Lead within Community Safety is responsible for:
  • working with Team Leaders to identify high risk activities and appropriate actions relating to modern slavery and human trafficking;
  • ensuring appropriate information and training for staff and councillors;
  • ensuring that this Statement and resulting actions are embedded within the Council’s Safeguarding Policies and Procedures and Strategic Plan.

Early Identification and Notification: Team Leaders

• Team Leaders will notify any suspected modern slavery concerns encountered in the course of their work, to the Designated Modern Slavery Lead within Community Safety. They will ensure that they and their staff complete all relevant training.

Identifying and Reporting Concerns: All Staff and Councillors

• As with all safeguarding concerns, all staff and councillors are required to share these in order that they can be investigated and action taken as required.

For further information regarding this statement and our work on Modern Slavery, contact:

Pop Gill – Prevent and Cohesion Manager
Email: purjinder.gill@derby.gov.uk
Telephone: 01334 643044