The UK government’s 2024 consultation on strengthening the Modern Slavery Act 2015 represents a significant step towards enhancing corporate accountability for forced labour and human trafficking risks in supply chains. The proposed revisions aim to close gaps in reporting consistency, improve public access to modern slavery statements, and mandate the inclusion of key risk mitigation elements. Retailers and other large businesses operating under the Act have begun updating their online modern slavery statements to reflect these anticipated requirements, particularly by integrating AI-driven supplier risk scoring and leveraging automated monitoring tools that draw on open data sources.
One of the most notable impacts of the 2024 consultation has been the increasing adoption of artificial intelligence solutions to assess supplier risk profiles. Retailers, keen to demonstrate proactive compliance, have invested in platforms that apply machine learning algorithms to supplier data, trade records, and contextual indicators such as country-level risk indices. These AI-driven systems assign dynamic risk scores to suppliers based on factors including geographic location, industry sector, workforce composition, and prior compliance history. By integrating these insights into annual modern slavery statements, companies are providing more meaningful disclosure of how they identify, assess, and mitigate the risk of forced labour across complex global supply chains. Statements published since the consultation began typically include a section that outlines how these AI tools inform supplier engagement strategies, audit priorities, and escalation procedures when red flags are detected.
To operationalize these improvements, human-rights compliance teams have also embraced automated news-scraping and open-data integration tools. The 2024 consultation highlighted the importance of continuous monitoring, rather than relying solely on annual supplier surveys or audits. As a result, businesses have adopted technologies that scan thousands of news outlets, court records, NGO reports, and government data sources in real time, flagging any reports of labour rights violations or trafficking incidents linked to suppliers or their sub-tiers. These systems feed into centralized dashboards where compliance teams can review alerts, assess their relevance, and trigger follow-up actions as needed. The use of open datasets, such as those from the ILO, Global Slavery Index, or government transparency registers, ensures that monitoring activities draw on authoritative sources and support evidence-based risk management.
To support businesses in aligning their practices with the evolving expectations of the Modern Slavery Act, a structured checklist can help human-rights teams integrate these technologies effectively. The first step is to define the scope of supply chain monitoring by mapping Tier 1 and, where possible, Tier 2 suppliers, including their facility locations, ownership structures, and key production processes. Next, companies should select and configure AI-driven risk scoring tools that align with their sector, supply chain complexity, and geographic footprint. This involves calibrating the algorithms to give appropriate weight to factors such as supplier location in high-risk regions, use of temporary or migrant labour, and prior audit results. Third, teams should deploy automated news-scraping software, ensuring it covers a broad range of media types and languages relevant to supplier geographies. This technology should be set to flag any potential indicators of forced labour, trafficking, or related abuses, feeding results into an internal review process that determines whether further investigation is warranted.
The fourth step is to integrate these tools with open data sources and existing compliance systems. For example, linking AI-driven risk scores with supplier records in procurement platforms, or embedding news-scraping outputs into case management tools used by compliance officers. Teams should also ensure that data from these systems is retained and organized in a manner that facilitates transparent reporting and external verification. The final step is to reflect these efforts in the modern slavery statement itself. Retailers should clearly describe how AI and automated monitoring tools contribute to their risk assessment process, provide examples of actions taken in response to identified risks, and set out any plans for further enhancement of their due diligence approach.
The 2024 consultation signals the UK government’s intent to require businesses to report against a standardized set of criteria, including governance structures, risk assessments, due diligence processes, training, and remediation efforts. Retailers and large companies that have already started integrating AI and open-data technologies into their compliance programs are well positioned to meet these future requirements. By taking a more data-driven and transparent approach, businesses can not only strengthen their alignment with the Modern Slavery Act but also build greater stakeholder confidence in their commitment to ethical sourcing.
The coming months will see further developments as the UK government finalizes the outcomes of the consultation and sets new statutory obligations for reporting entities. In the meantime, companies should continue refining their modern slavery statements and due diligence systems, ensuring they reflect the latest technological capabilities and best practices in supply chain transparency. By doing so, they can demonstrate leadership in the fight against modern slavery and position themselves ahead of regulatory changes while contributing to broader efforts to eradicate forced labour from global supply chains.