What is modern slavery?
Slavery is a violation of a person’s human rights. It can take the form of human trafficking, forced labour, bonded labour, forced or servile marriage, descent-based slavery and domestic slavery. A person is considered to be in modern slavery if they are;
The use of slavery in the production of goods and services
Typically, the products bought nowadays have passed through a long chain of producers, manufacturers, distributors and retailers who have all participated in its production, delivery and sale. It can therefore be very difficult to certify that a product has or has not been produced using slavery. However, the way in which companies operate and manage their supply chain can affect the likelihood of slavery being a part of the final product. The Modern Slavery Act gives responsibility to companies for ensuring that no slavery has occurred, and this applies not only to the products they sell or the services they provide themselves but also to their suppliers, and the suppliers of their suppliers, all the way down the supply chain.
What we are required to do
Primarily our requirements relate to section 54 of the Act “Transparency in the supply chain” Under the Act, any company with a turnover of more than £36m must produce a statement for each financial year listing the steps it is taking to ensure that slavery and human trafficking is not taking place in any of its supply chains or in any part of its business. This statement must be published on company websites and visible to staff, suppliers, customers and investors. The trickle-down effect of the Act will be felt this year as businesses begin to ask more searching questions of their suppliers to seek assurance that they are also taking steps to ensure that their supply chains are free from slavery.
Our statement of principles
“NHS Midlands and Lancashire CSU believes there is no room in our society for modern slavery and human trafficking, we have a zero tolerance for modern slavery and breaches in human rights and will ensure this is built into the processes and business practices that we, are partners and our suppliers use”.
Derek Kitchen Managing Director
Overview of Midlands and Lancashire CSU
Midlands and Lancashire CSU (MLCSU) was formed in April 2014 as a result of the merger of the former Central Midlands CSU and Staffordshire and Lancashire CSU. The CSU provides end-to-end commissioning support services to 46 CCGs, covering 1,683 GP Practices and 11.6 million population with a total commissioning budget of £14.9 billion. MLCSU also serves several NHS England Local Offices, Provider Trusts, local Authorities, out-of-area CCGs and other non-NHS Customers.
The services provided to our core customers are as follows:
Business Intelligence and Informatics.
Communication and Engagement.
Corporate Governance and Legal Services.
Financial Services.
Human Resources and Payroll.
Individual Patient Activity/Continuing Healthcare.
Information Management and Technology.
Medicines Management.
Procurement.
Organisational Development.
Provider Relationship and Market Management.
Quality and Performance Management.
Referral Management Services.
Service Transformation.
Strategic consultancy
Regional Capacity Management.
MLCSU operates over a wide geographical area including Birmingham, Solihull, Walsall, Wolverhampton, Dudley, Sandwell, Staffordshire, Leicester, Derbyshire, Worcestershire, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin, Cheshire, Merseyside and Lancashire, with main offices located at:
MLCSU employs around 1,500 staff and is forecast to generate an income of approximately £91.4 million during 2019/20.
MLCSU is one of 5 CSUs nationally. They are non-statutory organisations which are hosted by NHS England and derive their powers to act from delegations of authority to CSU Managing Directors by NHS England.
Our vision developed with our staff and core customers is:
To be a highly valued NHS partner for improving health and integrating care
Our values are:
These are consistent with our statement of principles on Modern Slavery and we are therefore totally committed to taking this forward as outlined below.
Our approach
What we already do
The Procurement teams are all Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS) or working towards this qualification. As such, they all abide by the CIPS code of professional conduct and have completed a CIPS ethical test which specifically covers modern slavery, this is refreshed on an annual basis.
What next
Derek Kitchen Managing Director
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