This statement is made pursuant to section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and constitutes The Royal British Legion's modern slavery and human trafficking statement for the financial year 1 October 2018 to 30 September 2019.
This statement provides background to our organisation and our supply chains, and sets out the steps we have taken to ensure that slavery and human trafficking is not taking place in our organisation or any of our supply chains.
The Royal British Legion (RBL) is a registered charity incorporated by Royal Charter with charity number 219279. As at 30 September 2019, we have three (3) subsidiaries that are companies limited by guarantee and ten (10) subsidiaries that are companies limited by shares. Of the subsidiary companies, two (2) are dormant and five (5) also have charitable status.
Since 1921, the RBL has aspired to deliver on its three key charitable objectives: we provide for the needs of the Armed Forces community of Service Personnel, veterans, and their families; we champion their interests with policy makers, legislators and authorities; and we commemorate their service and sacrifice through our Remembrance activities.
The RBL’s objectives are to safeguard the memory of those who have fought and died in conflicts past and present, and to provide advice, information and support to serving men and women, veterans and their families in areas such as education, employment, mental and physical health and independent living. It is a role we continue to fill to this day. We are committed to ensuring that every member of the Armed Forces community is able to live happily and independently, with a sustainable future.
Our activities are overseen by our Board of Trustees who have ultimate responsibility for all that we do. The RBL's day-to-day management resides in the Executive Board which reports directly to the Board of Trustees.
The RBL has a number of policies and procedures which reflect our commitment to acting properly in all of our business relationships, and we ensure that we implement and enforce effective systems and control.
The RBL has a commitment against slavery and human trafficking in all forms and strives to act ethically, at all times, in all of our work, business dealings and various relationships; ensuring that slavery and human trafficking does not take place within our organisation or our supply chains. As such, the Procurement Division is continuing to work to finalise our Ethical Sourcing Policy.
The RBL’s policies and procedures are applicable to all our employees as well as to those engaged on a temporary or consultancy basis.
The current key policies and procedures which contribute to minimising the risk of modern slavery and human trafficking in our organisation and our supply chain include the following:
We deal with many organisations through our operational divisions and we use suppliers to support the operations of our organisation. The key areas in which we engage suppliers to provide goods and services are:
The RBL’s template agreements and standard terms and conditions require suppliers to comply with the law. This includes specific reference to the RBL’s commitment against modern slavery and human trafficking.
The Procurement Division, working with the Legal and Risk divisions, has reviewed our procurement processes to ensure that we take into consideration the different risks associated in our supply chains, including modern slavery and human trafficking. We continue to review our policies and procedures to ensure that they are effective and appropriate, and we will update these as necessary.
We carry out due diligence checks on key suppliers and will monitor their compliance with applicable law; including in relation to slavery and human trafficking.
We are satisfied that our key suppliers have appropriate policies in place in relation to modern slavery and human trafficking. We will continue to review all of our suppliers and regularly assess our key suppliers in more detail to ensure that they have appropriate policies in place to minimise the risk of slavery and human trafficking in their business.
Due diligence and monitoring is ongoing and under periodic review to improve supplier vetting and to further minimise a range of risks, including slavery and human trafficking. This is being led by our Procurement Division; working with the Legal Division.
We work hard to ensure that adequate information and training is provided to all the RBL employees, contractors or visitors on all relevant matters.
In terms of information and training:
Charles Byrne
Director General
19 October 2020