We are also committed to a sustainable food culture for staff and students, meaning one that supports local, sustainable and Fairtrade suppliers and produce. This is something that has been recognised by both the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings for Zero Hunger, where the University was ranked 19th out of 442 institutions in 2021; and also by the Sustainable Restaurant Association in re-awarding their top rating of 3 Stars. By promoting this culture through our tender processes when establishing contracts for catering supplies & services, we consider modern slavery and human rights infringement risks and seek to address them early on in the contracting process.
The University of Plymouth engages with its purchasing consortium SUPC (Southern University Purchasing Consortium) to support ethical sourcing by incorporating checks against slavery and human trafficking as part of the collaborative procurement activity.
The University’s terms and conditions for direct tendering or contracting, including the supplier on-boarding process, aim to ensure the potential for Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking are duly considered at the early stages of the contracting cycle.
Awareness to our staff about Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking is supported through promotion of the UK Modern Slavery & Exploitation Helpline (Unseen) via our internal procurement SharePoint pages.
We will continue to identify those supply chains that represent a risk of modern slavery, human trafficking, forced and bonded labour, and labour rights violations, by working with both suppliers and members of both regional and sector purchasing consortia, taking appropriate action if we become aware of such activity.
It is University policy that all new staff joining the University provide documentation to demonstrate their Right to Work within the UK before commencing employment. For those in higher risk areas, this is asked for at the interview stage.
Over recent years that have seen wide scale demand for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in response to the COVID 19 global pandemic, we have continued close working with suppliers of these products remaining conscious of the potential for labour rights violations, an approach, which has seen sharing of knowledge and scrutiny of supplier audits with their supply chain.
What are we going to do in the future
University of Plymouth expresses its commitment to the continuous review of the supply chains it uses, working towards greater transparency and awareness of the people working within them.
The challenge of modern slavery and human trafficking is one that is best addressed through the ongoing and proactive engagement with suppliers, the Higher Education Procurement Consortia and wider professional networks such as HEPA (Higher Education Procurement Association), through which the sharing of experience will establish and maintain best practice.
During the Financial year ending 31 July 2022 we will;
- Continue dialogue with suppliers to the University, to explore collaborative supply chain mapping, whereby both the costs and outputs/benefits can be shared.
- Undertake a midpoint review and update to our Procurement Strategy 2020-23. This is an opportunity to reflect upon progress in all areas, including the commitment to addressing the modern slavery agenda, which is already established as a key priority within the strategy.
- Work with our sustainability team, to explore the suitability and associated benefits of integrating responsibilities under the Modern Slavery Act 2015 (the ‘Act’) into our ISO14001 (2015) Environmental Management System accreditation. The perceived benefits include: providing externally-audited assurance; an additional means of raising awareness of University responsibilities under the act; support in the development of University-wide key performance indicators.
- The University already makes the Speak Up platform available to staff, students and suppliers. It is available to support the anonymous reporting of any abuse, harm or hate and any such allegations are taken incredibly seriously. We will review the suitability of using this platform as a mechanism to report any modern slavery or human trafficking concerns, alongside the existing UK modern slavery & exploitation helpline (Unseen).
Louise Parr-Morley
Interim Chief Financial Officer