Introduction

Modern slavery is a crime and a violation of fundamental human rights. It takes various forms, such as slavery, servitude, forced and compulsory labour and human trafficking, all of which have in common the deprivation of a person's liberty by another in order to exploit them for personal or commercial gain.

Whilst Hack Partners Limited are not subject to the the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and are not required to prepare and publish a statement setting out the steps taken during that financial year to ensure that slavery and human trafficking are not taking place Hack partners Limited is committed to working with a supply chain that is committed to preventing modern slavery and human trafficking from affecting any part of our business and the suppliers to Hack Partners Limited.

This statement is made pursuant to section 54(1) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and constitutes our company’s slavery and human trafficking statement for the financial year ending 2021.

Organisational structure

Hack Partners is a provider of technology products and consulting services in the transport and infrastructure sectors.

We are a small business with under 20 employees with no subsidiaries. The company has an annual turnover of below £2M.

Our supply chains

Our supply chains include: hardware and network communications providers, multimedia professionals, software platforms and providers and distributors of computer equipment. The majority of them are based in the UK and may themselves have suppliers which are based globally, especially the distributors of computer equipment.

Our policies on slavery and human trafficking

We are committed to ensuring that there is no modern slavery or human trafficking in our supply chains or in any part of our business.

In light of the obligation to report on measures to ensure that all parts of our business and supply chain are slavery free we have reviewed our workplace policies and procedures to assess their effectiveness in identifying and tackling modern slavery issues.

Our workplace policies and procedures demonstrate our commitment to acting ethically and with integrity in all our business relationships and to implementing and enforcing effective systems and controls to ensure slavery and human trafficking is not taking place anywhere in our supply chains.

Identifying modern slavery

Modern slavery may be found in:

1. our business, for example our cleaning and catering workforce;
2. our supply chains;
3. outsourced activities, particularly to jurisdictions that may not have adequate modern slavery safeguards.

There is no typical victim of modern slavery, and some victims do not understand they have been exploited and are entitled to help and support. However, the following key signs could indicate that someone may be a victim of modern slavery or human trafficking:

1. The person is not in possession of their own passport, identification or travel documents.
2. The person is acting as though they are being instructed or coached by someone else.
3. The person allows others to speak for them when spoken to directly.
4. The person is dropped off and collected from work.
5. The person is withdrawn or appears frightened.
6. The person does not seem to be able to contact friends or family freely.
7. The person has limited social interaction or contact with people outside of their immediate environment.

The above list is not exhaustive. A person may display a number of the indicators set out above, but they may not necessarily be a victim of slavery or trafficking.

Due diligence processes for slavery and human trafficking

As part of our initiative to identify and mitigate risk we have in place systems to:

• Identify and assess potential risk areas in our supply chains.
• Mitigate the risk of slavery and human trafficking occurring in our supply chains.
• Monitor potential risk areas in our supply chains.
• Protect whistleblowers.

Supplier adherence to our values

We have zero tolerance to slavery and human trafficking. To ensure all those in our supply chain and contractors comply with our values we have in place a supply chain compliance programme.

Suppliers trading or manufacturing addresses may be visited at any point throughout the year by either an employee or an independent contracted authority to assess and review whether they are meeting our zero tolerance standards.

We have a responsibility team, which consists of representatives from the following functions:

• Operations
• Commercial & Procurement
• Technology
• General Management

Responsibility For This Policy And Compliance

The Responsibility Team has overall responsibility for ensuring this policy complies with our legal and ethical obligations.

All employees have the primary responsibility for implementing this policy and dealing with any queries about it.

All employees must comply with this policy.

All suppliers must comply with this policy.

Supplier Onboarding

When new suppliers are introduced they must supply their own modern slavery statements and other policies. We also interview the supplier’s account / general manager to make it clear about our expectations of quality, legal and ethical obligations. FInally we ask suppliers to provide copies of their training and skill development policies. Suppliers are reviewed annually to monitor compliance.

Training

To ensure a high level of understanding of the risks of modern slavery and human trafficking in our supply chains and our business, staff can request additional training any point throughout the year.