Foreword
In 2022, the Local Government Association (LGA) published updated guidance for councils on tackling modern slavery. The guidance is supported by a maturity matrix providing a framework for councils to assess their current progress and plan future activity on modern slavery. This document has been widely used by both councillors and officers to help them understand patterns and forms of modern slavery and local government’s responsibilities for addressing the issue.
In 2025, we updated our offer with this shorter, standalone councillor guide document to support local councillors in thinking about the individual role they can play to help tackle modern slavery. Broadly, there are two aspects to this: first, to increase awareness and understanding of modern slavery across your council and community, helping to embed it into core work; and second, to support robust scrutiny of the council and its partners on modern slavery, ensuring accountability.
Awareness of modern slavery and the number of reported survivors has increased at a time when financial pressure is mounting on essential council services like regulatory and community safety services, housing, and social care that are all key to disrupting slavery and supporting survivors. There is no doubt that these pressures can make it more challenging for councils to proactively take the action they would wish to if resources were no object. But modern slavery is a heinous crime that, although often hidden, blights communities up and down the country. Whatever the challenges, we have a moral responsibility to ensure that we are taking all the steps we can to try to eradicate it.
As has been seen with other pressing social issues, the personal initiative and commitment of individual members in driving the agenda can make a huge difference to ensuring that tackling modern slavery is a council priority. This document outlines practical steps that councillors can take to do this, supported by examples of existing good practice. I hope it serves as a valuable resource in your efforts.
Councillor Heather Kidd
Chair, LGA Safer and Stronger Communities Board
Modern slavery is one of the most serious and hidden crimes affecting our communities today. It takes many forms, including forced labour, sexual exploitation, domestic servitude and criminal exploitation, and it is happening in every part of the UK. In 2024, more than 19,000 potential victims of modern slavery were referred to the National Referral Mechanism, a staggering 13 per cent increase compared to 2023. A growing number of these were UK nationals, children, and women and girls. These are not just statistics. They represent real people whose lives have been deeply impacted by exploitation and abuse.
As the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner, my role is to promote good practice in preventing, detecting, investigating and prosecuting modern slavery, and to champion the rights and needs of victims. Councils are often the first to encounter signs of modern slavery, placing them in a pivotal position to act. In England and Wales, they are legally required to report suspected cases, and councillors and officers play a central role in identifying victims, raising awareness, and coordinating support. This role is essential to turning statutory duties into meaningful protection on the ground.
As councillors, you are in a unique position to help identify and address this exploitation where it occurs. This guide is a timely and practical resource, designed to support you in your role as elected representatives and community leaders. Whether through shaping local policy, scrutinising council services, or engaging with residents and businesses, your leadership is vital in the fight against modern slavery.
The guide also reflects the priorities of my office. These include preventing exploitation before it occurs, protecting victims through coordinated and trauma-informed responses, and supporting effective prosecutions. It highlights the importance of working across departments and sectors, embedding lived experience into policy development, and ensuring that ethical standards are upheld in everything councils do.
Tackling modern slavery is everyone’s business. I encourage you to use this guide to drive action in your communities and to help build a society where exploitation is not tolerated, and every person is treated with dignity and respect.
Eleanor Lyons
Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner
Summary of the council role
The Local Government Association (LGA) document ‘Tackling modern slavery: a council guide’ outlines in detail four key areas of responsibility for councils in relation to modern slavery. These areas are summarised below.
Disruption
Councils help prevent and disrupt modern slavery through:
- Their duty to prevent crime and disorder
- Participation in multi-agency partnerships
- Regulatory and enforcement powers (such as environmental health and licensing) that may uncover or tackle exploitation in local businesses
Identification
Frontline staff such as social workers, housing officers or customer services staff may encounter survivors of modern slavery. Councils are legally designated as first responders under the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and must:
- Refer consenting potential victims via the National Referral Mechanism (NRM)
- Use the Duty to Notify form for non-consenting potential victims or cases with limited information
Supporting survivors
- Children: Always treated as safeguarding cases under child protection duties and must be supported by councils.
- Adults: Support is provided through a government contract (led by The Salvation Army), but councils may also have responsibilities for housing or social care, depending on eligibility and needs before or after NRM support.
Procurement
Though not yet legally required, more than half the councils in England and Wales have voluntarily published modern slavery transparency statements. Councils can reduce risk by:
- Identifying high-risk contracts
- Embedding checks into procurement and supplier management
- Using available tools and best practice examples. The LGA website includes a number of tools and examples for councils to draw on in developing a transparency in supply chains statement.
A key point to recognise is that these varied responsibilities cut across a range of council services and there is a need for joined up working to tackle modern slavery effectively. Even a short list of current high-profile modern slavery issues where councils may be focusing demonstrates the wide number of services that potentially become involved in the issue, but there are many others:
- County lines. County lines drugs trafficking is a form of criminal exploitation and treated as modern slavery, accounting for a very significant proportion of the NRM referrals made by councils in recent years.
- Cuckooing. Cuckooing’ is a form of exploitation that has grown in prominence over recent years and involves an individual or group of people taking over a person’s home and using it to facilitate exploitation. Government will be legislating to make cuckooing a standalone offence.
- Hand car washes and nail bars. These sectors have been recognised as having high levels of labour market abuses, including slavery. Council planning, environmental health (health and safety) and trading standards teams may have an enforcement role in relation to individual hand car washes or nail bars and may also be asked to work in partnership with enforcement agencies on joint operations.
- Care sector. Cases of labour exploitation and modern slavery in the care sector have increased recently. Councils should consider this risk and what measures can be taken to try to prevent this. Guidance has been produced to support councils.
- Private sector housing regulation and enforcement. There is an intrinsic link between poor housing and modern slavery, and cases of slavery have been discovered when councils have investigated noise complaints or reports of ‘beds in sheds’. Regulation of private rented sector housing can and has been used effectively to disrupt modern slavery.
An overarching role that councils can play, sitting above these specific responsibilities, is increasing public awareness of modern slavery. An enforcement-led approach may disrupt slavery, but eradicating it requires a community led response in which individuals and businesses understand and recognise modern slavery and make ethical decisions about where to shop and what to buy, choosing products and services that do not involve modern slavery. The role of awareness raising is something in which councillors themselves can take the lead on.
How councillors can help tackle modern slavery
Councillors can help support local efforts to tackle modern slavery in four broad areas:
- increasing and sharing knowledge of modern slavery
- supporting increased awareness and engagement with the issue
- identifying how modern slavery fits in with their specific role and networks
- holding their council and relevant statutory/non-statutory stakeholders in their networks to account over the issue.
Increasing and sharing knowledge of modern slavery
An important first step for councillors in tackling modern slavery is to find out more about the issue and understand what activity is taking place locally.
There is a range of comprehensive guidance documents and training materials already available, including the LGA’s guide to tackling modern slavery. Councils may also offer their own internal training, such as e-learning modules. There are also several organisations that can provide training on the issue, or that publish reports on modern slavery, such as on the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner’s webpage.
General modern slavery awareness training:
Procurement training
Councillors should seek to understand what is already happening locally to address slavery, including identifying:
- relevant partnerships and whether there is a dedicated modern slavery partnership locally
- which charities and non-government organisations working with survivors are present locally
- whether the local police have a dedicated modern slavery unit
- what neighbouring councils and regions are doing on the issue.
Councillors can also seek to network with and visit other councillors across the country to bring back learning to their areas. Once the local modern slavery landscape has been mapped out, it may be possible to identify opportunities to engage with local partnerships or police unit by attending meetings or events or requesting feedback on local operations. The LGA has also developed a maturity matrix that provides a framework for assessing progress and planning future activity on modern slavery. Many councils have found this tool useful, and this benchmarking may be something councillors could encourage.
As well as local officers, who can explain the local modern slavery landscape, councillors may find Nottingham University’s anti-slavery partnerships toolkit a useful source of information, as well as the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner’s website. The Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority, an organisation that seeks to protect vulnerable and exploited workers, feature a number of information leaflets and posters on their website. These are in a number of different languages and can be downloaded and printed off free of charge.
Supporting increased awareness and engagement with the issue
Councillors can use their role and influence to raise awareness of slavery across their networks and increase engagement with the issue:
- within the council
- externally, with relevant agencies and networks
- and among local residents.
Information about modern slavery and local activity should be shared with all councillors, and officers, even if there has been limited activity to date. As has been seen up and down the country, tackling modern slavery is a cross-party issue and a council’s efforts will be strengthened when councillors work across party lines. Within the council, member interest can help increase engagement and activity on the issue—members can use some of the tools set out in the final section of document to help drive this.
More recently, a small number of councils have appointed a dedicated modern slavery coordinator to lead on this work within the council. Whilst financial pressures can make hiring a dedicated modern slavery coordinator challenging for councils, research has shown the significant impact they can have by identifying and supporting survivors, building partnerships to make communities resilient to modern slavery, and co-ordinating cross agency working.
Externally, councillors can increase awareness and engagement through their networks and contacts with various groups.
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Other bodies or networks |
Awareness raising |
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Other statutory agencies |
Councillors can play an important role by liaising between different statutory agencies, each of which will have their own strategies focusing on different issues. Councillors may be able to wield more influence and open more doors than officers to help achieve buy in. |
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Police and crime commissioner (PCC) |
The PCC has an integral role in tackling modern slavery. Alongside officer links to the force, the link between councillors and the PCC can play an important role. |
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Local partnerships |
Members can help to raise awareness of modern slavery across key partnerships and bodies, such as the Community Safety Partnership, safeguarding boards, etc. |
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Business networks |
Councillors can use their links with the local business community—including individual businesses and business networks—to raise awareness of modern slavery, including the importance of being able to spot modern slavery and eradicating it from supply chains. A number of local partnerships and councils have developed specific materials targeted at businesses, such as Hertfordshire modern slavery partnership’s procurement guidance. Unseen has also developed a self-assessment questionnaire that aims to help businesses determine how they can strengthen their efforts to tackle modern slavery and labour exploitation.
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Local voluntary and community sector, faith groups |
Councillors will have contacts with the local voluntary and community sector and can help to increase awareness of the issue and what to look out for.
Faith groups and leaders have played an active role in trying to raise awareness and tackle modern slavery, so councillors can consider trying to work collaboratively with local groups. |
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Human trafficking and modern slavery non-governmental organisations sector |
The human trafficking and modern slavery non-governmental organisation sector includes a number of national organisations (such as the Human Trafficking Foundation, Stop the Traffik, Unseen, amongst others), as well as organisations with a more localised footprint involved in supporting survivors. Some of these organisations also send out newsletters that may be of interest. |
Beyond specific networks, councillors can play an instrumental role in general awareness raising among local residents. This may focus on helping people to:
- understand that modern slavery is an issue in the UK
- be aware of some of the high-risk areas
- spot the signs of modern slavery
- be clear about what to do and where to report it if they see something of concern
- think about how the choices people make about what to buy may impact modern slavery.
There are numerous helpful materials that councillors can signpost their colleagues and networks to, including:
- video case studies and materials produced by the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA)
- Break the Chain, a short film about modern slavery produced by students from Oaklands College in Hertfordshire
- the modern slavery helpline and related publicity materials
- the safe car wash app developed by the Clewer Initiative to help consumers identify and flag concerns about hand car washes, a high risk sector
- A number of councillors have either attended or helped to arrange local events and conferences designed to raise awareness of modern slavery and develop local partnerships.
Humber Modern Slavery Partnership
The Humber Modern Slavery Partnership was formed in 2015 to generate a coordinated, efficient, and proactive response to Modern Slavery across Humberside. Anti-slavery forums were established in each local authority area that feed into a collaborative Humber-wide strategic anti-slavery plan. Around sixty partners are involved in the partnership.
In Humberside, a partnership approach has ensured the appointment of a Coordinator position for the Humber Modern Slavery Partnership. The post is based at the Wilberforce Institute at Hull University and was initially funded by the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Humberside. Subsequent funding came through a joint Community Safety Partnership bid and the partnership is now wholly funded by the University of Hull with annual contributions towards activities by local community safety partnerships.
The partnership has a clear strategy and action plan that outlines core strategic priorities based on the LGA modern slavery maturity matrix: leadership, resource and capacity, identifying and supporting adults, identifying and supporting children, and disruption, prevention and enforcement. The partnership has had a significant impact. For example, it has established a joint local authority housing protocol that makes provision for the safe accommodation of a potential adult victim prior to entering the Salvation Army Victim Care Contract. It has also created an extensive modern slavery champions network across the Humber region. This is a network of frontline professionals who act as a link between each local authority anti-slavery forum and the teams or organisations they represent. There has also been a significant year-on-year increase in the number of referrals made into the NRM in Humberside.
The partnership has supported the roll out of modern slavery awareness training to elected members, and members are briefed on the work of the partnership and broader activity to tackle modern slavery through Overview and Scrutiny Committees and quarterly email updates.
Identifying how modern slavery fits within councillor roles and networks
As set out above, modern slavery cuts across several council services areas, including licensing, environmental health and trading standards, housing, community safety, customer contact and social services.
Councillors with specific portfolios can consider how modern slavery links to this and how the relevant services areas could be working on modern slavery. Similarly, there is scope for councillors to consider how the committees that they are members of could consider modern slavery, or for them to raise it as a discussion point in committee meetings.
Modern slavery addition to the Statement of Licensing Policy, Hertsmere Borough Council
Policy reviews are an opportunity to include modern slavery within existing frameworks and policies. Councillor Meenal Sachdev has played an integral role in raising awareness of modern slavery across Hertsmere Council. As a member of the licensing committee, Councillor Sachdev saw an opportunity to include information on modern slavery within Hertsmere Borough Council’s Statement of Licensing Policy, which was under review. She got in touch with the appropriate staff member and a modern slavery section was added following approval by the rest of the committee and then full council. Through this type of commitment, licensing officers can be trained to not only raise awareness within licensed premises, but also better identify possible cases when visiting such premises.
Role of the Cabinet member, Oxford City Council
Councillor Lubna Arshad is Cabinet Member for a Safer Oxford and oversees work on a number of community safety issues, including modern slavery. Councillor Arshad has played a key role in raising awareness of modern slavery both within the council and externally. She challenges the council and other elected members to improve work on modern slavery, for example, successfully advocated for elected members to receive training on modern slavery and has also used her influence within the council to ‘open doors’ to support the work of officers when they have been facing blockages. The broader remit of Councillor Arshad’s post means she has sight of a range of different community safety initiatives, and this has enabled her to identify areas of cross-over of the council’s work and encourage better partnership working. Additionally, Councillor Arshad regularly uses social media to promote work the council is delivering to tackle modern slavery and support survivors, and this helps to demonstrate that this work has the backing of elected members at a senior level.
To support Councillor Arshad, the community safety team schedule regular meetings with her to ensure she is updated on work to tackle modern slavery. Additionally, the modern slavery team produces an annual report for the Scrutiny Committee, and this has been helpful to develop a good working relationship between the Cabinet Member and officers.
Scrutiny and accountability
Councillors can use the full range of democratic tools available to them—such as scrutiny reviews, council motions, holding debates and asking questions at council meetings—to ensure that the council and its partners are accountable for their activity on modern slavery. These can enable councillors to assess and benchmark the council’s work on the issue, as well as helping to drive the agenda locally by securing commitments for further activity. The LGA has developed a maturity matrix that provides a framework for assessing progress and planning future activity on modern slavery, and this may assist with benchmarking work.
In drilling down into local work on modern slavery, councillors might want to focus on a few contributory factors that support work on modern slavery.
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Theme |
Key issues |
Possible questions to ask |
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Knowledge and training |
Whether members and officers are aware of modern slavery as an issue and any locally specific issues or risks.
Whether training on modern slavery is available for officers and members.
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Strategic approach |
The strategies the council has in place to drive its work on modern slavery. |
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Council structures and processes |
How the council coordinates modern slavery work across a diverse range of services.
How the council fulfils its first responder obligations to submit NRM referrals.
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Partnership working |
The local partnership structures that may include modern slavery within their remit.
How the council engages in local modern slavery partnership structures and how effective are they. |
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Supporting survivors |
Whether the council has been involved in supporting any survivors of modern slavery and has procedures in place for doing so. |
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Procurement |
Whether the council has taken steps to eradicate modern slavery from its supply chains.
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Awareness raising |
Whether and how the council is seeking to increase local public understanding of the issue of modern slavery and the need to tackle it. |
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Council motions
Many councils from across the political spectrum have used council motions to sign up to the Co-operative Party's council charter against modern slavery. The Co-operative Party's Charter against Modern Slavery goes further than existing law and guidance, committing councils to proactively vet their own supply chain to ensure no instances of modern slavery are taking place. The Charter states your council will:
- Train its corporate procurement team to understand modern slavery through the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply’s (CIPS) online course on Ethical Procurement and Supply.
- Require its contractors to comply fully with the Modern Slavery Act 2015, wherever it applies, with contract termination as a potential sanction for non-compliance.
- Challenge any abnormally low-cost tenders to ensure they do not rely upon the potential contractor practising modern slavery.
- Highlight to its suppliers that contracted workers are free to join a trade union and are not to be treated unfairly for belonging to one.
- Publicise its whistle-blowing system for staff to blow the whistle on any suspected examples of modern slavery.
- Require its tendered contractors to adopt a whistle-blowing policy that enables their staff to blow the whistle on any suspected examples of modern slavery.
- Review its contractual spending regularly to identify any potential issues with modern slavery.
- Highlight for its suppliers any risks identified concerning modern slavery and refer them to the relevant agencies to be addressed.
- Refer for investigation via the National Crime Agency’s national referral mechanism any of its contractors identified as a cause for concern regarding modern slavery.
- Report publicly on the implementation of this policy annually.
Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council - Overview and Scrutiny Management Board report on Modern Slavery
In 2018, the Council resolved to adopt the Co-operative Party’s Charter against Modern Slavery. Three years after the Charter was adopted, the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board (OSMB), decided to hold a spotlight review to examine the effectiveness of partnership interventions to tackle modern slavery in Rotherham.
The spotlight review took place in November 2022. The key lines of enquiry for the spotlight review were:
- What impact has Modern Slavery Charter had since it was adopted in Rotherham in 2018?
- What is the role of the partnership in identifying modern slavery?
- What action is taken to support victims and against offenders?
- How does the partnership work collaboratively and share information on suspected modern slavery?
- What are the major gaps and challenges (and what can be done to address these)?
The Council worked with a range of partners to identify issues with the response to modern slavery and highlight areas for development. This evidence was then used to create a number of recommendations, including that training on modern slavery is provided to a number of frontline officers and elected members, as well as awareness raising activity to the general public and targeted businesses (such as lettings agencies), that consideration is given to developing referral pathways to ensure survivors get the support they need, that work is undertaken to improve data and intelligence sharing, and that consideration is given to how young adults at risk or experiencing modern slavery are safeguarded during the transition from children to adult services.
These recommendations were submitted to Cabinet for consideration and response, as well as to the Safer Rotherham Partnership for dissemination to the South Yorkshire Modern Slavery Partnership for further consideration and response.