Modern slavery affects millions of people globally. Whilst only specific parts of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 apply to Scotland, as a public body, Aberdeen City Council has a duty to uphold the highest possible ethical standards, and contribute to the elimination of this scourge on our society.
Aberdeen City Council are committed to tackling Modern Slavery. Our Anti-Modern Slavery Statement stands as our commitment and covers the following areas of our service provision to the people and place of Aberdeen:
- Human Resources, including recruitment and use of temporary / casual / fixed-term staff
- Partner organisations
- Supply chain/procurement
- Capital projects
- Whistleblowing
- Training and development
- Monitoring and enforcement
Aberdeen City Council Anti-Modern Slavery Statement
Aberdeen City Council (“the Council”) commits to work with fairness and integrity in all aspects of its activity and as such has a zero-tolerance approach to slavery and human trafficking. Our Modern Slavery Commitments (“the Commitments”) set out what the Council commits to do to combat modern slavery in the Council’s activities.
Modern slavery encompasses human trafficking and slavery, servitude and forced or compulsory labour. Human trafficking consists of three basic components: action, means and purpose of exploitation. All three components must be present in an adult trafficking case; for child trafficking the ‘means’ component is not required. In human trafficking cases, exploitation can take many forms, including sexual exploitation, forced labour, slavery, servitude, forced criminality and removal of organs. Some people may not be victims of human trafficking but still victims of modern slavery if they have been subject to slavery, servitude and forced or compulsory labour.
The objective of the Commitments is to confirm the effective steps the Council is taking to tackle modern slavery in its activities.
You can read the full background and Modern Slavery Commitments in our Anti-Modern Slavery Statement report, approved by Communities, Housing & Public Protection Committee, May 2024, and supporting Integrated Impact Assessment.