Captain of the King’s Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard and Deputy Chief Whip (Baroness Wheeler) (Lab)

It is a privilege to represent His Majesty’s Government in bringing forward this important secondary legislation, and I am very grateful for the opportunity to present it for your Lordships’ careful scrutiny today. Slavery remains one of the greatest evils in human history. This Government cannot and will not accept that we might inadvertently support forced labour or human trafficking through our supply chains. I wish to acknowledge the cross-party and Cross-Bench support on this issue, both in this House and in the other place. I pay tribute to all noble Lords, and to distinguished Peers such as the noble Lords, Lord Hunt of Kings Heath and Lord Alton, and the noble Baroness, Lady Brinton, who have all worked tirelessly to keep modern slavery at the forefront of our national conversation. I will begin by setting out why these regulations are necessary. Many are shocked to learn that there are more enslaved people now, in absolute terms, than at any point in history. It is estimated that around 50 million people worldwide are living in modern slavery. Globalisation has brought immense opportunities for trade, but also for exploitation. We in the United Kingdom are not immune from these global networks of human trafficking. In late 2023, the previous Government published a review into NHS supply chains, covering 60% of medical consumables—£7 billion of spend across over 1,300 suppliers, representing 600,000 products. The review found that just over a fifth of suppliers represented a risk. We know that staff working in the NHS would be appalled to learn that surgical items and face masks could be contaminated by modern slavery. I know I share this revulsion with colleagues across the NHS and across this House. The review also recognised the wider benefits to the NHS of a better understanding of our supply chains, including improved product quality and supply resilience. It gave us clear recommendations, and today I am proud to present landmark modern slavery legislation to put these policies into practice. This is a first for England, and I hope our colleagues in the devolved Administrations will follow suit. The NHS is one of the largest public sector procurers in the world, with an annual spend of around £35 billion and business with over 80,000 suppliers. We have a duty to ensure that no products we procure are tainted by forced labour, and an opportunity to use our purchasing power for good. These regulations will require all public bodies to assess modern slavery risks in their supply chains when procuring goods and services for the health service in England. They give effect to a duty established by the Health and Care Act 2022 requiring the Secretary of State to eradicate modern slavery wherever it is found in NHS procurement. Public bodies will be asked to take reasonable steps to address and eliminate modern slavery risks, especially when designing procurement procedures, awarding and managing contracts, and setting up frameworks or dynamic markets. Reasonable steps may include enforcing robust conditions of participation, monitoring supplier compliance, reassessing risk through the contract’s life and requiring immediate mitigation where instances of modern slavery are discovered. The regulations also require public bodies to have regard to relevant guidance issued by DHSC or NHS England for consistency and accountability across the system. The updated guidance is now published and publicly available, and the Explanatory Memorandum has been updated to share a link to it. Some noble Lords may be concerned about legislative overlap, questioning the need for new regulations when modern slavery is already illegal. These regulations have been carefully drafted to fit in with existing statute, building on measures such as the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and the Procurement Act 2023, not replacing them. We are bringing all NHS England procurement into scope and creating a stronger legislative footing for enforcement. The aim is to introduce a single, enforceable risk management approach to modern slavery across the NHS, and we will continue to review our arrangements to ensure their effectiveness. I do not pretend this will be easy. NHS supply chains are vast, making it difficult fully to assess the scale. The 2023 review was a snapshot, but it is likely that more than a fifth of our supply chains remain at high risk, as the review said and as I have previously stressed. Items included cotton-based products, surgical instruments and PPE gloves, all vital for hospitals across the country. That is why NHS organisations will be supported with clear guidance and resources to root out modern slavery wherever it is found. It would be abhorrent to think that we procure such items cheaply by turning a blind eye. Ethical supply chains have been proven to be cost-effective in the long term, helping us to avoid litigation and supplier collapse, but even if this were not the case, I am confident that decent people across this country would never put a price on eliminating modern slavery. In today’s debate we are considering the public and the NHS, but, most importantly, we remember the victims of modern slavery. We have a chance to send a message to enslaved people across the world: “What is happening to you is unjust. We have not forgotten you. We will ensure that our money does not go to those who keep you in chains”. I hope this proves that the Government are committed to rooting out and addressing modern slavery in NHS supply chains. I hope that I have been able to set out the purpose of and a clear rationale for the regulations. I look forward to what will, I am sure, be an informed and constructive debate. I beg to move.