Tracker › European Member States and UK › UK MSA

European Member States and UK

UK Modern Slavery Act

UK MSA · United Kingdom

Updates pending Last updated 1 June 2026

Plain-language summary

The UK Modern Slavery Act 2015 requires commercial organisations with turnover above GBP 36 million that supply goods or services in the UK to publish an annual transparency statement describing the steps they have taken to ensure their operations and supply chains are free from modern slavery and human trafficking. The law is widely acknowledged to have produced compliance that is more procedural than substantive.

A mandatory due diligence amendment has been in the legislative pipeline since at least 2021, when a House of Lords bill proposed replacing the transparency statement requirement with a genuine due diligence obligation and introducing enforcement penalties. As of mid-2026, the amendment is expected to be introduced in the autumn legislative session.

For Global South suppliers, the current law has limited direct practical effect, since its requirements fall on UK buyers rather than suppliers. The proposed amendment would change this by requiring UK buyers to actively identify and address supply chain risks, which would translate into due diligence requests and audits for their suppliers.

Key obligations

  1. 1

    Annual transparency statement

    Companies must publish an annual statement signed by a board director describing steps taken to ensure modern slavery is not occurring in operations or supply chains. Currently a disclosure requirement only, not a due diligence mandate.

  2. 2

    Proposed: due diligence obligation

    If the pending amendment passes, companies will be required to conduct active due diligence, not merely report on their practices.

Implementation timeline

March 2015

Act enacted

The Modern Slavery Act received Royal Assent.

September 2015

Transparency statement requirement in force

Companies above the turnover threshold began publishing annual statements.

Autumn 2026

Mandatory due diligence amendment expected

The Government has indicated it will introduce legislation in the autumn 2026 session to add a mandatory due diligence requirement.

Change log

Official sources