MODERN SLAVERY STATEMENT
1: About this Statement
Access Training (South West) Ltd is committed to preventing acts of modern slavery and human trafficking in its business and supply chain, we expect the same high standards from our suppliers and customers.
Should any evidence be found we will not hesitate to take appropriate immediate action.
2: About Us
Access Training (South West) Ltd is a UK based company operating in the education sector. We provide training courses globally via our website.
We currently have an annual turnover of less than £10m. Therefore, we make this statement voluntarily as it is important to us to show that our business and everyone connected with it will not tolerate human trafficking or modern slavery.
In order to provide our service to learners we work with a range of core suppliers from industry specialists to service providers. The majority of these are local to our headquarters in St Austell - others are further afield. Over the years we have built up many strong relationships with our suppliers and industry experts; all of these relationships are based on our shared values, growth and commitment to the highest levels of performance.
3: About our Policies
We believe combating modern slavery and working ethically starts with us, we therefore have a suite of policies and procedures in place to support this including:
- We are an equal opportunities employer
- No forced labour is used
- We ensure all employees are at least 18 years of age and are eligible to work in the UK via independent pre employment ID checks
- All employees are free to join trade unions if they wish – all employees are consulted and supported to share their views on our policies, procedures and working practices
- All employees receive annual training appropriate to their job role including employee well-being, alongside compliance
- We provide a safe working environment and publish a H&S policy
- Deductions for disciplinary measures are not made and full details of lawful deductions are provided on a monthly payslip
- All full time employees work a Monday to Friday daytime 35 hour week contract, with flexible working arrangements including working from home
- We have a whistleblowing policy in place
These policies have been developed by working with our HR team and industry specialists.
4: Our Due Diligence
We extend our commitment to our suppliers by making them aware of our policies, and expect the same standards in return.
Our core suppliers are expected to meet the requirements of the Real Living Wage annually and are encouraged to have their own Modern Slavery procedures in place.
A risk assessment is carried on potential new suppliers before engagement and we monitor this when working with them.
We do this to:
- ensure standards are met
- highlight areas of potential risk in our supply chain
- reduce the risk of slavery and human trafficking occuring
5: Our Risk and Compliance
We consider ourselves to be low risk due to operating in the low risk education sector and the online electronic nature of our UK based service.
If a risk was identified in a potential new supplier, we would not commence activity until reassurances were met.
Should evidence of slavery or human trafficking come to light with an existing supplier (or customer) we would enforce zero tolerance and immediately seek to terminate the relationship.
6: Our Effectiveness and KPIs
We keep the risk of modern slavery occurring under constant review in our day to day business and by performing an annual assessment.
Our target is simple and will always be zero.
7: Our Training
As a training provider we constantly invest in educating ourselves and others. Right from our employee onboarding through to our annual compliance refreshers and acknowledgement of our policies we aim to give our employees the skills and ability to identify and report any potential breaches to this statement.
8: Our Next Steps
As this is our first statement we intend to follow up by:
- Communicating and providing it to our employees and suppliers
- Publishing this statement on our website
- Keeping it under review