JCHR Chair Welcomes Forced Labour Supply Chain Safeguards in Immigration Bill

Key Points

• Lord David Alton, Chair of the Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR), has welcomed measures in the Immigration and Asylum Bill aimed at strengthening forced labour safeguards in supply chains.
• The Bill received its second reading in the House of Commons today.
• The legislation proposes to amend Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, which governs Transparency In Supply Chain (TISC) statements.
• Relevant UK businesses are currently required to publish an annual TISC report outlining steps taken to prevent modern slavery in their supply chains.
• The Bill would broaden the reporting duty to cover certain public authorities, not just private businesses.
• New specific criteria would be introduced, setting out precisely what TISC statements must include.
• The Bill grants powers to impose financial penalties for non-compliance, capped at £1,000,000 or 1% of total turnover or budget, whichever is relevant.
• Lord Alton says the measures implement three recommendations made by the JCHR in its July 2025 report.
• The JCHR’s report, titled Forced Labour in UK Supply Chains, warned the UK risked becoming a “dumping ground” for goods made using forced labour.
• The Committee’s report also called for stronger mandatory human rights due diligence and improved access to justice for forced labour victims in UK courts.
• The JCHR report is scheduled to be debated in the House of Lords on 4 September 2026.

Westminster (Britain Today News) July 15, 2026 — The Chair of the Joint Committee on Human Rights, Lord David Alton, has welcomed a series of measures contained within the Immigration and Asylum Bill, which had its second reading in the House of Commons today, designed to tighten requirements around forced labour and modern slavery reporting in supply chains used by UK businesses and public authorities.

The Bill proposes to amend Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, the provision that currently obliges relevant UK businesses to publish an annual Transparency In Supply Chain (TISC) statement setting out what steps, if any, they have taken to identify and prevent modern slavery within their supply chains. Under the proposed changes, the scope of this reporting duty would be extended to cover certain public authorities for the first time, specific criteria would be introduced dictating what a TISC statement must contain, and the Government would gain powers to impose financial penalties on organisations that fail to comply, with fines capped at £1,000,000 or 1% of total turnover or budget.

Why Has the JCHR Chair Welcomed the Immigration and Asylum Bill?

Lord David Alton has confirmed that the measures within the Bill directly reflect recommendations previously put forward by the Committee he chairs. Speaking about the proposed changes, Lord Alton said:

“I welcome the Government’s proposed legislative changes to implement three recommendations made by the Joint Committee on Human Rights in its report into forced labour in UK supply chains. These measures would expand and strengthen the legal requirements to publicly report the actions taken to address modern slavery in supply chains each year. New penalties for non-compliance could reach £1,000,000 or more, so relevant companies and public authorities must take their duties seriously, and not treat them as simply a rubber stamping exercise.”

His comments signal cross-institutional alignment between the Committee’s earlier findings and the Government’s current legislative agenda, though Lord Alton was careful to frame his welcome as being for “some” of the measures rather than an unqualified endorsement of the entire Bill.

What Changes Does the Bill Propose to Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015?

Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 has, since its introduction, placed a duty on qualifying UK businesses — typically those above a certain turnover threshold — to produce a slavery and human trafficking statement each financial year. This statement is intended to disclose the steps an organisation has taken, or indeed has not taken, to ensure that modern slavery and human trafficking are not taking place within its own operations or its supply chains.

The Immigration and Asylum Bill proposes three principal amendments to this framework:

• Firstly, it would broaden the scope of the reporting duty so that it applies not only to private businesses but also to certain public authorities, closing a gap that campaigners and parliamentarians have long argued left significant areas of public procurement outside the reach of transparency requirements.
• Secondly, it would strengthen the duty itself by introducing specific criteria that TISC statements must include, moving away from the current system, which has often been criticised for allowing organisations significant discretion over what to disclose and how thoroughly to disclose it.
• Thirdly, it would provide the Government with powers to introduce financial penalties for organisations found to be non-compliant, with those penalties limited to £1,000,000 or 1% of an organisation’s total turnover or budget.

Who Will Be Affected by the Extension of Reporting Duties to Public Authorities?

One of the more significant elements of the proposed reforms is the extension of TISC reporting obligations to certain public authorities. Until now, the duty under Section 54 has applied specifically to commercial organisations meeting a defined turnover threshold, leaving public bodies largely outside its scope despite the scale of public procurement across the UK. Lord Alton’s comments suggest this extension addresses a gap previously identified by the Committee, ensuring that public money spent through procurement contracts is subject to the same scrutiny regarding modern slavery risks as private sector spending.

What Financial Penalties Could Be Imposed for Non-Compliance?

Under the Bill as it stands, organisations that fail to comply with their strengthened reporting duties could face financial penalties of up to £1,000,000, or alternatively 1% of their total turnover or budget, depending on which calculation applies to the organisation in question. This represents a marked shift from the current system, under which there has historically been no direct financial penalty for businesses that fail to publish a TISC statement, or that publish one containing minimal or inadequate detail.

Lord Alton was explicit in his warning to organisations that will fall within scope of the new duties, stating that relevant companies and public authorities

“must take their duties seriously, and not treat them as simply a rubber stamping exercise.”

Why Did the Joint Committee on Human Rights Publish Its Report on Forced Labour?

The Joint Committee on Human Rights published its report, titled Forced Labour in UK Supply Chains, in July 2025, following an inquiry into the extent to which forced labour and modern slavery risks persist within the supply chains of UK businesses and public bodies. The report examined the effectiveness of existing legal and regulatory frameworks, including the Modern Slavery Act 2015, and considered what further steps might be necessary to protect victims of forced labour both overseas and within the UK.

What Did the JCHR Report Warn About the UK’s Approach to Supply Chains?

According to the Committee’s findings, the UK had fallen behind other countries in its approach to addressing supply chain issues connected to forced labour. The report warned that the UK risked becoming a “dumping ground” for goods manufactured using forced labour, a finding that appears to have informed the Government’s decision to pursue the legislative changes now contained within the Immigration and Asylum Bill.

What Further Measures Did the Committee Recommend Beyond Transparency Reporting?

Beyond calling for improvements to the UK’s legal and regulatory framework governing supply chain transparency, the Joint Committee on Human Rights also called for the introduction of stronger mandatory human rights due diligence measures. Such measures would go beyond simple reporting obligations and would instead require organisations to actively investigate, assess and mitigate human rights risks within their supply chains, rather than simply disclosing whether or not they had done so.

The Committee additionally called for greater access to justice in UK courts for victims of forced labour, a recommendation aimed at ensuring that individuals who have suffered exploitation within supply chains connected to UK businesses have a meaningful legal route to seek redress.

How Does the Public Benefit From Stronger Supply Chain Transparency Measures?

Explaining the rationale behind the Committee’s continued focus on this issue, Lord Alton said:

“The public deserve to have confidence that the goods and services they use on a daily basis are not produced at a terrible cost to people across the globe. That is why we need strong measures in place to ensure that businesses and public bodies are taking adequate steps to understand what is going on in their supply chains and take effective action to reduce the risks of forced labour and modern slavery.”

This statement frames the proposed reforms not solely as a matter of corporate or public sector compliance, but as a broader question of public trust and consumer confidence in the goods and services available within the UK market.

When Will the JCHR Report Be Debated in Parliament?

The Joint Committee on Human Rights’ report, Forced Labour in UK Supply Chains, is scheduled to be debated in the House of Lords on 4 September 2026. This debate will provide an opportunity for members of the Lords to consider the Committee’s findings and recommendations in greater detail, separate from the passage of the Immigration and Asylum Bill through the House of Commons.
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What Happens Next for the Immigration and Asylum Bill?

Having had its second reading in the House of Commons today, the Immigration and Asylum Bill will now proceed through the further stages of the parliamentary process, including committee stage scrutiny, before it can become law. It remains to be seen whether the specific measures relating to forced labour and supply chain transparency will be amended further as the Bill progresses, or whether they will remain in their current form when the legislation eventually reaches the House of Lords, where the JCHR’s own report will separately be debated in September.

What Does This Mean for Businesses and Public Authorities Going Forward?

For businesses and public authorities that will fall within the expanded scope of the reporting duty, the message from the Joint Committee on Human Rights is unambiguous: the era of treating TISC statements as a routine administrative formality is coming to an end. With specific criteria set to be mandated and financial penalties of up to £1,000,000 or 1% of turnover or budget now on the table, organisations will be expected to demonstrate genuine, substantive action to identify and address forced labour risks within their supply chains, rather than producing statements that satisfy only the minimum letter of the law.

Lord Alton’s welcome for these measures, whilst notably partial rather than wholesale, indicates that the Joint Committee on Human Rights will likely continue to monitor the Bill’s progress closely as it moves through Parliament, and may seek further amendments in line with its outstanding recommendations on mandatory human rights due diligence and access to justice for victims, both of which remain unaddressed by the current proposals.