OpenMinds Social Care Limited is committed to protecting and respecting human rights; this includes preventing modern slavery and human trafficking. This statement is made pursuant to Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and constitutes OpenMinds Social Care Limited’s statement and anti-modern slavery practices. It sets out the steps that we have taken and will take across our operational activities and between our relationship with Local Authorities who utilise our services for Looked After Children and Care Leavers (including unaccompanied asylum-seeking minors), in relation to modern slavery and human trafficking.

Our Structure

We are a small business with a workforce averaging 15, operating as a Private Limited Company (Ltd) within the social care sector; subjected to Ofsted scrutiny and complying with stringent sector regulations and Ltd company requirements.

Our Commitment

We recognise that modern slavery is a significant global human rights issue and includes human trafficking, sexual exploitation, forced and bonded labour, some forms of child labour and domestic servitude. We also recognise modern safeguarding as a form of abuse within our safeguarding practices. We are committed to operating in an ethical and transparent manner, actively working with our partner agencies e.g. Local Authorities; Commissioning Teams, Ofsted and safeguarding boards to identify and mitigate the risks of modern slavery and human trafficking within our scope of service, personnel and influence.

Our commitment starts from protecting and respecting human rights and taking action to prevent modern slavery and human trafficking in all its forms. We will act ethically and with integrity in all our relationships, and use all reasonable endeavours to take action within our direct operations and our wider sphere of influence to ensure modern slavery and human trafficking are not taking place.

We achieve this by:

• Conducting due diligence to assess and address risks related to modern slavery particularly with vulnerable groups to modern slavery such as unaccompanied asylum-seeking minors.
• Encouraging transparency and accountability throughout our network of service-users and regulators.
• Training staff on how to recognise the risks, whistleblow and report any concerns.

Our Policies

As part of our rigorous recruitment process, we check that all new employees have the right to work in the UK. While we have limited HR resources, we work hard to mitigate any risks regarding our employment process and we vet every applicant to ensure they are who they say they are, and that they hold the relevant qualifications for the role.

Where it is necessary to hire agency workers, we have a portfolio of vetted agencies that we use, we ensure that they follow the right procedures for employing and training their staff. We continue to monitor verifications as necessary.

Modern slavery is acknowledged as a form of abuse. Our safeguarding children and vulnerable adults policies include safeguarding against abuse; and we encourage whistleblowing and the reporting of abuse as soon as it is identified.

Managing risks

We provide services to Local Authorities for vulnerable groups such as children and unaccompanied asylum-seeking minors. We maintain a transparent relationship with Local Authorities; whereby there are checks and balances in place to ensure that between us we are fit to operate and uphold and protect human rights within our operations.

We recognise the risk of modern slavery and human trafficking is reported to have marginally increased in the UK and rest of Europe, particularly in relation to migrant workers, whether exploitation is taking place or not is unknown.

We will achieve our due diligence by:

• Maintaining open communication lines within our supply chain, with Local Authorities and allied health professionals that any employment taken up by the Looked After Children and Care Leavers who we support are adhering to ethical labour practices, especially as unaccompanied asylum-seeking minors and migrants are vulnerable to modern slavery risks.
• The Local Authorities also ensure that we are registered and compliant with our appropriate bodies and they do this by checking our compliance and documentation.
• Working collaboratively and transparently with other likeminded organisations to mitigate risks.

Training & Awareness

We provide training to employees on the risks of modern slavery and the actions needed to mitigate such risks.

Last reviewed: 4th April 2025
Next review dates: 3rd April 2026