Tuesday, 18 October 2022
Modern slavery experts at the University of Nottingham are part of a new partnership to promote ethical labour in the UK construction industry, announced today on World Anti-Slavery Day.
The ‘Alliance against Exploitation’ brings together the University’s Rights Lab; SCAPE, one of the UK’s leading public sector procurement authorities; the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority; modern slavery charity Unseen; and Achilles, a leader in supply chain risk and performance management.
The partnership has been formed to eradicate modern slavery and labour exploitation across the construction sector by sharing intelligence, identifying emerging trends and committing to robust auditing procedures.
In interviews with 1,200 UK construction workers, almost half said they had not received written terms and conditions of employment while almost one in three admitted using non-standard evidence of right to work documentation to gain employment.
The interviews, conducted by Achilles across the industry, also revealed four out of five workers had not been spoken to about modern slavery.
This newly formed alliance will help to make real progress in addressing modern slavery in the construction sector through public sector procurement processes. Modern slavery continues to be a significant management challenge across the construction supply chain and collaborative initiatives like this are key to developing the knowledge that is required for progress.”
Andy Bacon, Framework Operations Director at SCAPE, said: “World Anti-Slavery Day this week (18 October) marks another opportunity to raise awareness of modern slavery and encourage government, companies, and individuals to address the problem.
“At SCAPE, we recognise this is more important than ever. We can all produce modern slavery statements, and we can all stand behind high level contractual commitments regarding compliance, but, if we are not actively researching and verifying compliance within our high-risk supply chains, we are ‘ticking boxes and ignoring the reality of our industry.
“Therefore, we have partnered with the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority, Achilles, Unseen, and the Rights Lab at the University of Nottingham to join in our fight to eradicate modern slavery and promote ethical labour within construction supply chains.”
Andy said focused and targeted auditing, aligned to implementing robust procedures would play a pivotal role in driving standards.
“Going forward, our new generations of frameworks will make this activity a mandatory requirement of our frameworks through the tendering and contract process,” he added.
Elysia McCaffery, Chief Executive of the Gangmaster and Labour Abuse Authority – the government agency charged with tackling slavery and exploitation – said the partnership was a prime example of how industry can play a significant role in driving out exploitation.
She said: “Business has a huge part to play in tackling the exploitation of workers. Construction companies know their industry better than anyone else and are best placed to drive improvements and standards within their supply chains, ensure workers know their rights and become more vigilant in the fight against those who look to exploit others.
The construction sector is taking a mature, open approach to the issues of exploitation. It recognises the industry is a lucrative target for exploiters and is standing up to this threat. A significant level of investment is going into the above work, all self-funded by the parties involved, and demonstrates what collaboration between the public and private sector can achieve.
Story credits
More information is available from Dr Alexander Trautrims in the Rights Lab at the University of Nottingham at Alexander.Trautrims@nottingham.ac.uk
Notes to editors:
About the University of Nottingham
Ranked 32 in Europe and 16th in the UK by the QS World University Rankings: Europe 2024, the University of Nottingham is a founding member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universities. Studying at the University of Nottingham is a life-changing experience, and we pride ourselves on unlocking the potential of our students. We have a pioneering spirit, expressed in the vision of our founder Sir Jesse Boot, which has seen us lead the way in establishing campuses in China and Malaysia - part of a globally connected network of education, research and industrial engagement.
Nottingham was crowned Sports University of the Year by The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024 – the third time it has been given the honour since 2018 – and by the Daily Mail University Guide 2024.
The university is among the best universities in the UK for the strength of our research, positioned seventh for research power in the UK according to REF 2021. The birthplace of discoveries such as MRI and ibuprofen, our innovations transform lives and tackle global problems such as sustainable food supplies, ending modern slavery, developing greener transport, and reducing reliance on fossil fuels.
The university is a major employer and industry partner - locally and globally - and our graduates are the second most targeted by the UK's top employers, according to The Graduate Market in 2022 report by High Fliers Research.
We lead the Universities for Nottingham initiative, in partnership with Nottingham Trent University, a pioneering collaboration between the city’s two world-class institutions to improve levels of prosperity, opportunity, sustainability, health and wellbeing for residents in the city and region we are proud to call home.
More news…