Modern Day slavery statement

Priority Plus is committed to driving out acts of modern day slavery and human trafficking within its business and that from within its supply chains, including sub-contractors, and partners. The Company acknowledges responsibility to the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and will ensure transparency within the organisation and with suppliers of services to the organisation.

As part of the company’s due diligence processes into slavery and human trafficking the supplier approval process will incorporate a review of the controls undertaken by the supplier. The company will not support or deal with any business knowingly involved in slavery or human trafficking. The company Directors and senior management shall take responsibility for implementing this policy statement and its objectives and shall provide adequate resources (training, etc) and investment to ensure that slavery and human trafficking is not taking place within the organisation and within its supply chains.

This policy statement is made pursuant to section.54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and sets out the steps that Priority Plus 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. Priority Plus 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.

Our business

Priority Plus does work with Local Authorities Birmingham City County to offer domiciliary services, Warwickshire County Council Coventry and NHS and Rugby CCG for Live-in services and Supported Living services. We supply nurses and health care assistant into care and nursing homes. We operate in Birmingham, Solihull, Warwickshire and Coventry. We operate our business in health and social care sector in the areas mentioned above. We do not have any international business at the moment.

Our high risk areas

We are not operating in high risk areas at the moment. We do not with imported goods from sources outside the UK and EU which are potentially more at risk for slavery/human trafficking issues.

Our policies

Modern slavery statement

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 policy. 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. Equality and Diversity Policy- We give equal opportunities to staff and clients regardless of who they in terms of race, gender, age, ethnicity, religion or political stand.
  5. Code of business conduct. This code explains the manner in which we behave as an organisation and how we expect our employees and suppliers to act.

Our suppliers

Priority Plus 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 particular organisation has never been convicted of offenses relating to modern slavery [and on site audits which include a review of working conditions]. 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. (For international suppliers) They pay their employees any prevailing minimum wage applicable within their country of operations
  5. We may terminate the contract at any time should any instances of modern slavery come to light.

Training

We regularly conduct training for our procurement/buying teams 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.

Our performance indicators

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:

Modern slavery statement Page 2

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

Additional procedures ensure that this policy is understood and communicated to all levels of the company, and that it is regularly reviewed by the Directors to ensure its continuing suitability and relevance to the company activities.

Approval for this statement

This statement was approved by the Board of Directors on 22/12/2017

Name Catherine Githu
Signature Catherine Githu
Date22/01/2018