Agenda item

The Director of Neighbourhood and Environmental Services and the Director of Tourism, Culture and Investment submit a report briefing members on the city’s proactive work around modern slavery and labour exploitation, particularly in Leicester’s garment/ textiles sector, and highlighting key areas that the Council and partners such as the police have identified as further areas for development and the steps being taken to address these.  The Commission is recommended to note and comment on this work and identify any additional steps that can be taken to address the issues.

The Director of Neighbourhood and Environmental Services and the Director of Tourism, Culture and Investment submitted a report briefing members on the city’s proactive work around modern slavery and labour exploitation, particularly in Leicester’s garment / textiles sector.  The report also highlighted key areas that the Council and partners such as the police had identified as further areas for development and the steps being taken to address these.

Councillor Clarke, Deputy City Mayor – Environment and Transportation, introduced the report, noting that the sector and supply chain problems experienced were not unique to Leicester.  He reminded Members that the Council had no legal powers to stop labour exploitation, but had a strong role in working with enforcement agencies to address the issues.

The Community Safety (Labour Market) Co-ordinator then introduced herself to the Commission and Councillor Clarke explained that this was a unique post nationally.

The Head of Community Safety and Protection explained that:

·           The Council worked with key agencies, for example doing factory visits and assisting where possible.  However, enforcement agencies did not always have a full understanding of each other’s roles, so Council officers had compiled a handbook explaining these;

·           Communication and engagement work was important and the Council was fully engaged with its community leadership role.  It therefore was endeavouring to create a list of resources that were available, provide clear explanations of what exploitation and modern slavery were and identify easily understood pathways for reporting concerns;

·           The Council hoped to launch work it was doing with the Crimestoppers organisation around exploitation and modern slavery at the Leicester Business Festival;

·           Ongoing work included working with employers, to ensure they understood the law, and with employees, to ensure they were aware of their rights and knew what “good” looked like;

·           It was hoped that Council front-line workers could be trained to spot signs of exploitation; and

·           Officers also worked with organisations such as Hope for Justice, which had now agreed to have a base in the city.  It was proposed that front line officers from Hope for Justice, who spoke community languages, would be available to discuss issues with anyone who had concerns about exploitation.  Council officers also were working in communities with Citizens Advice, (for example, at schools), and visiting local safeguarding boards.  Meetings were being held with Trades Unions and had resulted in an invitation being received to address the Trades union Congress General Conference in November 2020 on labour exploitation and modern slavery.

The Head of Economic Regeneration advised the Commission that work also was ongoing in relation to supporting the growth of the sector.  Councillor Clarke chaired engagement with textile manufacturers and many of them had offered to help identify how the situation could be improved.  This included discussing how good practice could be showcased and identifying how procurement opportunities and skills could be developed, and training provided on key issues. 

Engagement also was ongoing with retailers, to find ways in which the manufacturing base in the city could grow, and with local universities and non-governmental organisations who could offer support to the sector.

The Head of Economic Regeneration explained that the Council led the local Growth Hub, which currently engaged with over 200 companies and accessed funds for them.  The Hub therefore was an important route through which companies could be helped to grow and show what “good” looked like.

Work also was being undertaken to establish a training initiative to help textile workers improve their skills.  Before the current Covid-19 pandemic, a site had been identified at which the Council could work with Fashion Enter on this and funding had been approved for the programme, but due to the pandemic the programme had been paused by Fashion Enter, as it involved face-to-face contact.

A lot of work was being done with English as a Second Language (ESOL) providers, to help increase people’s confidence about coming forward to report concerns by improving their language skills.  The community voluntary sector also provided support to the textile sector and some of those organisations wanted to also work on ESOL provision, as well as providing training and skills for the textile sector.

The Commission welcomed the holistic approach being taken to address exploitation in the textile sector and the progress made to date.  However, it was known that some work places were very small, so not easy to identify, and at some very little, or no, English was spoken, so Members queried how this was overcome.  No problems were encountered with many textile businesses, but for those that were hard to reach there were questions about what wages the workers were paid and how accessible the Community Safety (Labour Market) Co-ordinator was to those workers, particularly those with limited English.

It was suggested by a member of the Commission that the City Mayor should be leading on this issue, due to the importance of addressing the reputational damage done to the city by the way in which labour exploitation in Leicester had been reported by the media, and the fact that, although concerns about exploitation in the city’s textile sector had previously been raised, no action appeared to have been taken before now. 

The City Mayor reminded all Members that enforcement powers lay with a number of different agencies, not with the Council, but this issue remained one of grave concern to himself and all Councillors.  Awareness of, and action in relation to, this concern had started some time ago.  The appointment of the Community Safety (Labour Market) Co-ordinator was only the latest indication of how seriously this situation was taken.

The following questions and comments also were put forward by members of the Commission:

o    Recent media reports had suggested that, instead of paying taxes owed, some businesses were declared themselves bankrupt and then restarted under another name.  To what degree was this happening in Leicester?

Response from the Head of Economic Regeneration:

The claims made in the media articles were not backed up by available evidence.  Leicester had a higher proportion of workers in the textile industry than a lot of areas, but the Community Safety (Labour Market) Co-ordinator was working closely with enforcement bodies to identify unethical and/or illegal practices, which could then be addressed.

o    Was it known when the proposed training centre would start providing courses?

Response from the Head of Economic Regeneration:

The site and funding were already secured.  A training provider was in place and wanted to start training as soon as possible, so the timescale depended on when Fashion Enter felt confident to start provision.

o    Engagement with those vulnerable to exploitation could be challenging.  The community / voluntary sector could be more effective at this than the Council and also could provide access to ESOL services.

Response from the Head of Community Safety and Protection:

It was recognised that people would not come forward if they were not approached in the right way.  To help find the right avenues for communication, community officers from Hope for Justice and Citizens Advice would be undertaking outreach in the community.

Response from the Head of Economic Regeneration:

There were a large number of micro businesses in the city, (ie, with less than ten employees), and work was ongoing with over 200 of these.  One way to work with harder to reach businesses, that had had some success, was through work with other businesses in the sector.

o    Many working in exploitative environments feared deportation, as they did not have the required permits to work in this country.  This could make them reluctant to complain about working practices.  Was there any way in which this could be addressed?

Response from the Community Safety (Labour Market) Co-ordinator:

This was becoming more recognised as a problem.  Non-Government Organisations such as Hope for Justice and Citizens Advice were not required to report illegality, but other agencies were required to do so, so had an important role to play in communicating with people in this position.

o    Would the Council have to find additional resources for this work?

Response from Councillor Clarke:

The work being done by Hope for Justice was funded from its own budgets.  The Council would provide resources where it could, but its main role was to provide support, clarity and strategic direction.

AGREED:

1)    That this Commission’s congratulates all involved in this work on what has been achieved and expresses the hope that the Council will continue to work towards making significant improvements in working conditions; and

2)    That the Director of Neighbourhood and Environmental Services and the Director of Tourism, Culture and Investment be asked to report further on modern slavery and exploitation in Leicester’s textile sector as work progresses.