It’s Human Trafficking Awareness Day on Saturday 11 January, which lets people know about trafficking and modern slavery.
What is modern slavery?
Modern Slavery is the illegal exploitation of people for personal or commercial gain. Victims are trapped in servitude, which they were deceived or coerced into, and feel that they cannot leave.
Forms of Modern Slavery can include:
- Sexual exploitation
- Criminal exploitation
- Forced labour
- Domestic servitude
Modern Slavery statement
Back in 2015, the introduction of the Modern Slavery Act required all businesses with a turnover of more than £36m to publish a statement, which includes our actions to understand and address all potential slavery and human trafficking risks within Newport City Homes and our associated supply chains.
A zero-tolerance approach
The safeguards that we have in place mean that our suppliers and contractors need to demonstrate that they also comply with the Modern Slavery Act. We have committed to never knowingly work with a supplier or contractor who is involved in slavery or human trafficking.
We have checks in place to prevent this situation from happening, and because of these checks, the risk of slavery or human trafficking across our association or our supply chain has been assessed as low.
We’ll never take this for granted though – NCH has a zero-tolerance approach to slavery and human trafficking, which is confirmed in our Modern Slavery statement and updated annually on our website. Click here to take a look.
How do we prevent trafficking in NCH properties?
- All prospective NCH tenants have their eligibility to housing assessed by Newport City Council, who own the common housing register for Newport
- We carry out a ‘Getting to know you’ assessment with all tenancy applicants, where we’ll validate the information provided in their application before any offer is made
- Our colleagues are trained to identify where residents may be at risk, and escalate this to the appropriate authorities where required
- We operate within safeguarding guidelines at all times, and our staff are trained to identify, monitor and support vulnerable residents in partnership with external support providers
- Our Code of Conduct for all employees commits all staff and board members to act with integrity and transparency
- Where we employ new colleagues, our HR team undertakes pre-employment checks as part of our recruitment process, to make sure that all potential employees are entitled to work in the UK
To find out more about Modern Slavery in the UK, take a look at the video below produced by the UK Government.