Modern Slavery Statement

Reviewed October 2024
This statement is made in accordance with section 54(1) of the Modern Slavery Action 2015. It outlines what Meadows Care is doing to actively prevent modern slavery in our organization and for our staff, colleagues and supply chain.

We are very clear in our belief and practice against the unacceptable face of forced and compulsory labour, child labour and human trafficking. We are committed to implementing policies that aim to prevent this within our business and, to the best of our ability, within any supply chain that supports us.

Meadows care provides care, therapy and education to young people in our care service and to pupils in our school. Meadows care operates in a highly regulated setting and are subject to rigorous operational statutory regulation with our practice and governance being measured and inspected by Ofsted (The Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills, a non-ministerial department of His Majesty’s government, reporting to Parliament.)

As a care company, we are committed to the principles of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and the abolition of modern slavery and human trafficking. As an equal opportunity’s employer, we’re committed to creating and ensuring a non-discriminatory and respectful environment for our staff. We also want staff to be able to raise issues if they feel that there is any wrongdoing or risk occurring.

Our recruitment and people management processes are designed to ensure that all prospective employees are legally entitled to work in the UK and to safeguard employees from abuse or coercion.

Examples of training completed by many of our employees which support this include:

• Exploitation Training
• Safeguarding Training
• Safer Recruitment Training
• Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.

Our employees are encouraged to raise concerns about unethical behaviour, wrongdoing or behaviours they think go against our policies and values.

Employees are all made aware of the Whistle Blowing policy on induction and it is in each employee’s handbook. Due to the sensitive nature of our services, we choose to only use our internal HR and Recruitment department with rigorous pre-employment checks. Our recruitment processes are strict and comply fully with regulatory guidelines and safer recruitment for those working with vulnerable children, young people and adults.

Other key policies include:

• Anti-Bribery Policy
• Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy
• Code of Conduct
• Grievance Policy

We are committed to acting ethically and with integrity and transparency in all business dealings. Risks linked to modern slavery are an agenda item in our Senior Leadership Team (SLT) meetings & Directors meetings. There have been no disclosures or any identified instances of modern slavery within the company to date.

Due Diligence of Supply Chains

Due to the nature of our business, we have a limited supply chain to ensure our needs in terms of our administration, IT and management of our facilities and buildings are properly met. It is expected that our suppliers are able to provide details of their own policies supporting their statements and, as a minimum, meet national laws and include human rights principles regarding child labour or bonded or forced labour where documents are withheld, payment of fair wages and payment in money, not kind.

This statement was approved by the Board of Directors on:
Date: 24/10/24

This statement was signed by HR Director: Rebecca Dyson.