Our Work to Date

The Council has been committed to tackling modern slavery in line with our 2023 to 2028 Modern Slavery and Exploitation Strategy. This included:

We have developed public communications, tools and resources to raise awareness of modern slavery, human trafficking and child exploitation. We commit to partnership awareness activities every year on National Anti-Slavery Day. As a result of this, the number of referrals for modern slavery victims by the London Borough of Bexley increased a notable 54% this last year, from 33 in 2022 to 51 in 2023 (Child victim data from the Bexley Child Devolved Decision-Making Panel; adult victim data from the Home Office end of year statistics 2023.) This is a positive outcome; we need to identify victims to help them. We were part of a one-year Pan-London Data Project with Stop the Traffik to map our data to better understand our local context and guide our work. This has informed our understanding of the local picture and helped to target our awareness and interventions.

We have expanded our Modern Slavery Working Group with partnership to include partners outside of the Local Authority, including statutory and voluntary partners, to ensure a holistic approach to tackling modern slavery in Bexley. Here, we share and develop information, tools and resources. Through this partnership, we have put modern slavery on the agenda for many other agencies and organisations, and this is being more widely recognised.

We have created a Modern Slavery Working Group with partners, in which we share and develop information, tools and resources to tackle modern slavery. Through this partnership, we have increased our network and put modern slavery on the agenda for many other agencies and organisations, and this is being more widely recognised. We joined the Pan-London Data Project run by Stop the Traffik to map our data in order to better understand our local context and guide our work.

We have developed a local authority internal referral process to ensure all required steps are followed. We have also developed an adult and child referral checklist for practitioners to follow an in-depth guidance tool and ensure all partners are involved in the safeguarding of victims.

We created our second Transparency-in-Supply Chains Statement in 2023 to 2024; while not a legal requirement, we seek to embed steps into our procurement practices to deter exploitation in our supply chains and address risks where they might arise. We have HR policies and practices, such as recruitment, whistleblowing, and grievance procedures to ensure we have responsible recruitment practices and that no Council employee is exploited. We are developing a risk assessment of our Council supply chain, and advising staff on how to identify and mitigate risk in contracts they manage.

We require all local authority staff to undertake modern slavery training and offer more intensive training for frontline professionals in Bexley, including those who are not First Responders, to ensure a cross-sector understanding of modern slavery and confidence in all of our roles and duties in tackling it. We developed CPD accredited Adult Modern Slavery and Child Exploitation Workshops local partners to improve our understanding and actions responding to modern slavery of children and young people. We have recruited professionals from partnerships to deliver this training, to facilitate greater capacity and reach. We developed a NRM Process and Panel training session to give First Responders confidence in completing an NRM and understanding of the Devolved Decision-Making Panel in Bexley.

We keep updated of changing laws, policies and guidance and update our own policies and practices accordingly. We do this by participating in local, regional, and national networks and learning from best practice of other local authorities and partnerships. We report to the Bexley Community Safety Partnership bi-annually on our modern slavery work to ensure oversight of delivery against the Modern Slavery and Exploitation Strategy.

We are entering our second year as a pilot site for the Child NRM Devolved Decision-Making Panels, in which we coordinate a local panel of local authority, police and health professionals to make decisions about whether children referred into the National Referral Mechanism are victims of modern slavery or not. The Bexley panel has been recognised for its efficient and effective work, which in turn has informed participating professional’s understanding of the realities of modern slavery.

Areas of Focus in 2024 - 2025

Looking forwards into 2024-2025, many of the objectives and actions are ongoing in nature and priority, but we must also adapt to new legislative changes and local developments. We will continue to deliver against the four overarching goals of Prevent, Protect, Prepare and Pursue, but will adapt our actions to reflect progress and new needs.

Our main actions this year are to: