Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Statement
1. Introduction
This statement is made pursuant to Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and sets out the steps taken by Livewell Southwest CIC during the financial year ending 31 March 2025 to prevent modern slavery and human trafficking in our operations and supply chains.
Livewell Southwest is committed to acting ethically and with integrity in all business relationships, and to implementing effective systems and controls to ensure that modern slavery and human trafficking does not occur anywhere in the organisation or supply chains.
2. Our Organisation
Livewell Southwest is a recognised provider of integrated physical and mental health and social care services, serving a population of around 270,000 across Plymouth, South Hams and West Devon. We are also responsible for delivering specialist services to people living in parts of Cornwall and Devon.
Integrating health and social care allows us to adopt new and more efficient approaches to delivering services – enabling professionals who would, traditionally, have worked individually, to work together. This helps us to deliver the right care to people, in the right place, at the right time.
As a not-for-profit organisation, we re-invest all revenue back into the services we provide, and the communities we serve.
Our services include:
- Community and district nursing
- Social work intervention and social care support
- Physiotherapy and occupational therapy
- Mental health and physical health improvement services
- Mental Health Inpatient Services
- Children’s Services
- Specialist care for children, young people and families
- Prosthetics and rehabilitation for stroke patients & people with neurological damage
We employ almost 3,000 people and work with a wide range of local and national partners and suppliers to deliver these services.
3. Our Commitment and Policies
Livewell Southwest has a zero-tolerance approach to modern slavery, servitude, forced or compulsory labour, child exploitation and human trafficking. We are committed to ensuring that our practices, policies and systems are robust and ethical.
As part of our commitment to support people to have independent healthy lives, and consistent with local multi-agency safeguarding policies and procedures, we continue to take action to protect vulnerable people or those at risk of abuse.
We recognise our role in identifying and supporting victims of modern slavery and human trafficking as part of the health and social care system, as well as ensuring there is no such activity forming part of our supply chain or business activity.
Key policies and procedures that support this commitment include:
- Safeguarding Adults and Children Policies
- Recruitment and Selection Policy
- Raising Concerns and Speaking Up (Whistleblowing) Policy
- Equality, Diversity and Inclusion policies
- Procurement processes undertaken by University Hospitals Plymouth All policies are regularly reviewed and are supported by mandatory training programmes for staff.
4. Our Supply Chains
Livewell Southwest sources a wide range of goods and services from suppliers, including:
- Clinical consumables and medical equipment
- Agency staff
- IT and telecommunications
- Facilities and estates maintenance
A significant proportion of our procurement is conducted through national NHS frameworks and in partnership with NHS Supply Chain, which maintains rigorous standards regarding modern slavery compliance, as outlined in the blanket statement issued by NHS England covering all NHS bodies.
All new suppliers are expected to comply with the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and are asked to confirm their own policies and practices as part of the onboarding process and through regular contract management meetings. In addition, we have sought assurances from other key partners on their commitment to tackling modern slavery and we will continue to review partners and suppliers to ensure they have a corresponding ethos.
5. Employment and Recruitment Practices
We ensure that all employment with Livewell Southwest is freely chosen. We have clear procedures for verifying the identity and legal right to work of all new employees, including permanent, bank, and agency staff. Our recruitment is carried out in line with NHS Employers standards, including pre-employment checks and reference verification.
We work only with approved recruitment agencies and adhere to framework agreements that require suppliers to comply with relevant labour laws and ethical standards.
6. Identifying and Managing Risk
We understand that some areas of our business and supply chain may carry a higher risk of exposure to modern slavery, particularly:
- Agency and temporary staffing
- Facilities and estates maintenance
- Procurement of medical supplies from international sources
To mitigate these risks, we:
- Conduct due diligence on suppliers and contractors
- Monitor for signs of exploitation via our safeguarding processes
- Train staff to recognise and escalate concerns
Assessing risks of human trafficking and modern slavery are also included within specific multi[1]agency policy and procedures, and as an organisation, we are able to respond to requests from other agencies where this risk has been identified. With the use of these procedures, Livewell Southwest has supported the Police, Border Control and the Local Authority, where human trafficking and modern slavery has been detected elsewhere.
7. Training and Awareness
Safeguarding training is mandatory for all staff and includes details on identifying and responding to signs of abuse, exploitation, and trafficking. In 2024-25, we have taken the following action:
- Additional information was added to the employee web pages, providing further guidance on Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking and Safeguarding
- Amending the Safeguarding training to include signs and indicators of Modern Slavery
- Explicit reference to Modern Slavery in the Recruitment and Selection Policy and Procedure
In 2025–26, we are committed to enhancing awareness further by:
- Appointing a lead Modern Slavery Lead/Coordinator to share regular guidance with procurement and HR teams
- Promoting awareness of Modern Slavery through regular colleague communications
8. Monitoring and Effectiveness
We continue to assess the effectiveness of our measures to prevent modern slavery by:
- Reviewing reported concerns or whistleblowing cases
- Regularly updating policies and procurement practices
- Seeking assurance from suppliers
There were no incidents of modern slavery reported within Livewell Southwest or our supply chain during the financial year 2024–25.
9. Board Approval
This statement was approved by the Board of Directors of Livewell Southwest CIC on 17 September 2025 and is signed on behalf of the Board by:
Geoff Baines
Deputy CEO & Director of Safety and Quality
Livewell Southwest CIC