Dear Constituent,
Thank you for contacting me about business and human rights.
Let me begin by assuring you that HM Government (HMG) is committed to promoting the protection and respect of human rights in business, both at home and abroad.
The UK was the first country to create a National Action Plan to implement the UN’s Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs), widely regarded as the authoritative international framework to steer practical action by governments and businesses worldwide on this important and pressing agenda.
This plan sets out what is expected in regard to the conduct of UK businesses, including compliance with relevant laws and respect for human rights; treating the risk of causing human rights abuses as a legal compliance issue; adopting appropriate due diligence policies; and consulting those who could potentially be affected. HMG expects all UK businesses to respect human rights throughout their operations, in line with the UNGPs, including in regard to their supply chains.
The Government is also taking a number of steps, through the Modern Slavery Act 2015, to ensure no British organisation, public or private, unwittingly or otherwise, is complicit, through their supply chains, in human rights violations. Section 54 of the Act established the UK as the first country in the world to require businesses (with a turnover of £36m or more) to report annually on steps taken to prevent modern slavery in their operations and supply chains. In addition to these requirements the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and Department of Business and Trade also produce guidance to assist businesses in exercising such due diligence in countries where particular concerns around human rights exist.
Although trade is vital for our economy and future prosperity, it need not come at the expense of our values or international obligations on human rights. I can assure you that the Government continues to assess and consider appropriate action in response to egregious human rights violations and abuses globally, and that this goes much wider than considering trade alone, drawing on the wider tools at the Government's disposal.
In light of the full range of action across Government outlined above, I do not, as you suggest, think that a new Business, Human Rights and Environment law is required. The UK's Presidency of the G7 in 2021 and the resulting commitments from G7 members to tackle forced labour in global supply chains clearly demonstrates our country's commitment to ending modern slavery. I have no doubt that Ministers will continue these efforts going forward.
Thank you again for taking the time to contact me.
Sincerely,
