Modern Slavery Statement

This statement is made pursuant to s.54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and sets out the steps that Signalise Co-operative has taken and is continuing to take to ensure that modern slavery or human trafficking is not taking place within our business or supply chain.

Modern slavery encompasses slavery, servitude, human trafficking and forced labour. Signalise Co-operative has a zero tolerance approach to any form of modern slavery. We are committed to acting ethically and with integrity and transparency in all business dealings and to putting effective systems and controls in place to safeguard against any form of modern slavery taking place within the business or our supply chain.

Signalise Co-operative is a co-operative society owned and controlled by its members. We are part of the global co-operative movement and subscribe to cooperative values and principles that govern all cooperatives around the world.

Signalise Co-op provides a British Sign Language/English interpreting and translating service via a platform which is sustainable and commercially competitive, whilst also providing a vehicle to improve the quality and standards of service provision, bring users into the core of service delivery and allow workers extra benefits enabling better retention in the profession. The platform is being co-created with users via our multi-stakeholder co-operative structure.

This business is heavily centred in the local community of communication professionals, Deaf people and the wider local community. The aim is to bring back interpreter provision to the hands of the experts: those that deliver and receive the service and for the benefit of the whole community by engagement and by enabling local spend to be kept within the local economy.

We have carefully considered all aspects of our supply chain, and given that they are UK-based, committed to paying at least the national minimum wage (or living wage), we do not consider that we currently have any high-risk areas. We shall continue to monitor the supply chain and all aspects of our business for any potential high-risk areas and take appropriate steps to ensure that the supply chain ethics as set out in this statement are not compromised.

We operate a number of internal policies to ensure that we are conducting business in an ethical and transparent manner. These include:

1. Anti-Slavery Policy: This policy sets out the organisation’s stance on modern slavery and explains how employees can identify any instances of this and where they can go for help.
2. Recruitment and Selection Policy and Procedure: We operate a robust recruitment policy, including conducting eligibility to work in the UK checks for all employees to safeguard against human trafficking or individuals being forced to work against their will.
3. Whistleblowing Policy: We operate a whistleblowing policy so that all employees know that they can raise concerns about how colleagues are being treated, or practices within our business or supply chain, without fear of reprisals.
4. Members Code of Conduct: This code explains the manner in which we behave as an organisation and how we expect our employees to act.
5. Suppliers Code of Conduct: This code explains the manner in which we behave as an organisation and how we expect our suppliers to act. Any of our policies are available on request.

Signalise Co-op operates a supplier policy and maintains a preferred supplier list. We conduct due diligence on all suppliers before allowing them to become a preferred supplier. This due diligence includes an online search to ensure that any particular organisation has never been convicted of offences relating to modern slavery. Our anti-slavery policy forms part of our contract with all suppliers and they are required to confirm that no part of their business operations contradicts this policy.

In addition to the above, as part of our contract with suppliers, we require that they confirm to us that:

1. They have taken steps to eradicate modern slavery within their business
2. They hold their own suppliers to account over modern slavery
3. (For UK based suppliers) They pay their employees at least the national minimum wage / national living wage (as appropriate)
4. We may terminate the contract at any time should any instances of modern slavery come to light

We regularly conduct training for our staff so that they understand the signs of modern slavery and what to do if they suspect that it is taking place within our supply chain.

We will know the effectiveness of the steps that we are taking to ensure that slavery and/or human trafficking is not taking place within our business or supply chain if:

No reports are received from employees, the public, or law enforcement agencies to indicate that modern slavery practices have been identified.

This statement was approved by the Board of Directors on 20/09/2023.