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Publication duties
Section 54(7) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 applies if the organisation has a website. The statement goes on that website. A link must sit in a prominent place on the homepage. Home Office guidance says publish within six months of the financial year end. An organisation with no website must send a written copy within 30 days of a
A reference note from Dan Malone, who builds software products.
The rule
“Place the link on a prominent place on your homepage. It is good practice to keep previous statements on your website so that your progress can be monitored.”
The facts
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Who the duty covers | A body corporate or partnership, wherever incorporated or formed, that carries on a business in the UK. It must supply goods or services and have annual turnover of GBP 36 million or more. Source |
| Where the threshold comes from | Regulation 2 of SI 2015/1833 prescribes GBP 36 million as the total turnover figure for section 54(2)(b). Source |
| Homepage link is in the statute | Section 54(7) requires the statement on the website and a link to it in a prominent place on the homepage. Source |
| No website route | Section 54(8) requires a copy to anyone who makes a written request, within 30 days of receiving the request. Source |
| Publication deadline | Statutory guidance says publish within 6 months of the financial year end, and include the date the financial year ended. Source |
| Approval and signature | Section 54(6): a body corporate needs board approval and a director signature. An LLP needs member approval and a designated member signature. Source |
| Six recommended areas | Structure and supply chains, policies, due diligence, risk assessment and management, key performance indicators, and training. Source |
| Enforcement today | Section 54(11): the Secretary of State enforces the duty by civil proceedings in the High Court. The remedy is an injunction, or specific performance in Scotland. Source |
| Registry is additional, not a substitute | GOV.UK says organisations publish on their own website and can also add the most recent statement to the government registry. Source |
| Registry scale on 1 Sep 2026 | 34,096 organisations registered and 23,401 unique statements. The registry launched in 2021 and updates daily. Source |
| Pending penalty in the Immigration and Asylum Bill | The Bill proposes a penalty up to the greater of 1% of total annual turnover or GBP 1 million. Source |
| Bill timetable and new duties | Second reading passed 13 July 2026 by 264 votes to 90. The Public Bill Committee meets for the first time on 10 September 2026, and is expected to report by 3 November 2026. The Bill adds mandatory content, a director accuracy declaration, and electronic submission within six months. Source |
The artefact
What goes wrong
/01
The statement exists as a PDF but no link sits in a prominent place on the homepage. A footer-only or buried link does not match section 54(7).
/02
The page goes live more than six months after the financial year end, so it misses the guidance deadline.
/03
The file is a scanned PDF with no text layer. Screen readers and search engines cannot read it.
/04
The new statement publishes, but the homepage link still points at last year's file. The site then shows a stale version.
/05
The board approval date, signatory name or job title is missing, so the page cannot show the section 54(6) sign-off.
/06
A group publishes one statement but does not put it on the UK website of every organisation it names.
/07
The registry entry gets updated and the website copy does not, so the two published versions disagree.
Who supplies this
Membership body from Hope for Justice. Sells membership and modern slavery training to UK organisations.
https://www.slavefreealliance.org/
Specialist consultancy that drafts, benchmarks and gap-checks modern slavery statements and supporting policy.
https://ardeainternational.com/
Sells training, toolkits and templates that supply the evidence behind the six recommended statement areas.
https://www.stronger2gether.org/
Supply chain risk and audit data platform. Produces the site and supplier evidence a statement describes.
https://www.sedex.com/
Open register of transparency-in-supply-chains disclosures. Used to check whether a statement is published and current.
https://www.tiscreport.org/
Send the duty, the deadline and where it has to sit. What comes back is a written scope for the page, or a straight answer that you do not need one.
Send the briefLast checked 2026-09-01 · Published 2026-09-01
This page is reference material, not legal advice. Your advisor owns what applies to you.