Natural History Museum modern slavery statement summary (2020)

Organisation address
Cromwell Road,
South Kensington,
London,
United Kingdom,
SW7 5BD

We asked the organisation a series of questions about its modern slavery statement. Its answers are published on this page as a statement summary.

This statement provides information for all 6 recommended topics

What is a modern slavery statement?
UK law requires certain organisations to publish an annual modern slavery statement on their website, setting out the steps they are taking to address modern slavery risks in their operations and supply chains. Read more in the government guidance on publishing modern slavery statements.
Link to full statement
Go to full modern slavery statement on organisation’s website

PDF version of the statement (optional)

There is no PDF version of this statement.

PDF statements were first introduced to the registry for the 2023 statement year.

About this statement summary

All answers relate to the financial year covered by the statement. The organisation is responsible for all the information it provided. Some of our questions are optional, so organisations may not have answered all of them. The statement summary does not replace the full modern slavery statement – below we provide a link to the full statement on the organisation’s website.

Contents

Organisations covered by the statement

Natural History Museum modern slavery statement for 2020 is a group statement covering 3 organisations. See the full list of organisations covered by this statement

Statement period and sign-off details

The statement covers the following period:
1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020

The statement was signed off by:
The Lord Green of Hurstpierpoint (Chair of the Board of Trustees)

It was approved by the board (or equivalent management body) on:
7 July 2020

Recommended topics covered by the statement

Government guidance encourages organisations to cover a range of topics in their modern slavery statements, setting out the steps they’re taking to address modern slavery risks in their operations and supply chains. Read about the recommended topics in the statutory guidance.

We asked the organisation to tell us which topics its statement covers.

Topics recommended by government guidance Organisation’s response
The organisation’s structure, business and supply chains Covered
Policies Covered
Risk assessment Covered
Due diligence (steps to address risk) Covered
Training about modern slavery Covered
Goals and key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the effectiveness of the organisation's actions and progress over time Covered

The organisation’s sectors and turnover

Sectors

The organisation operates in the following sectors:

  • Public sector

Turnover

Its turnover in the financial accounting year of this statement was:

£36 million to £60 million

If the organisation is a public body, this amount is based on the organisation’s budget for the year of the statement.
What does 'turnover' refer to in group statements?
If this is a group statement, this includes the total turnover for all the organisations covered by the statement.

Number of years producing statements

The organisation has been producing modern slavery statements for the following number of years:
1 to 5 years
How does this work for group statements?
If the statement is for a group of organisations, this answer applies to the organisation with the longest history of producing statements.

Policies (optional)

We asked the organisation whether its policies include the following provisions in relation to its domestic and international supply chains, as well as its own operations.
Organisation’s response
The organisation told us its policies do not include any of the provisions we listed in our question.

Training (optional)

We asked the organisation whether it provided training on modern slavery, and who it was for.
What counts as training?
We explained that by ‘training’ we meant anything designed to increase knowledge and skills around identifying, addressing or preventing modern slavery risks. This could range from formal training courses to broader awareness-raising activities such as workshops or webinars.
We asked who the training was for Organisation’s response
Your whole organisation No
Your front line staff No
Human resources No
Executive-level staff Yes
Procurement staff Yes
Your suppliers No
The wider community No
Other
No

Monitoring working conditions (optional)

Engaging with others

We asked the organisation to tell us who it engaged with to help monitor working conditions across its operations and supply chains.
We asked who the organisation engaged with Organisation’s response
Your suppliers Yes
Trade unions or worker representative groups No
Civil society organisations No
Professional auditors Yes
Workers within your organisation No
Workers within your supply chain No
Central or local government No
Law enforcement, such as police, GLAA and other local labour market inspectorates No
Businesses in your industry or sector No

Social audits

We asked the organisation to tell us about any social audits it used to look for signs of modern slavery.
What are social audits?
A social audit is a review of an organisation’s working practices from the point of view of social responsibility, and should include an evaluation of working conditions in the organisation’s operations and supply chains. By their nature, audits of supplier workplaces represent a snapshot in time.
Organisation’s response
The organisation told us it did not carry out any social audits during the period of the statement.

Grievance mechanisms

We asked the organisation how workers in its operations or supply chains could raise concerns or make complaints.
Organisation’s response
The organisation told us there were no processes in its operations or supply chains for workers to raise concerns or make complaints.

Other ways of monitoring working conditions

We asked the organisation whether it had any other ways of monitoring working conditions across its operations and supply chains:
We subscribe to Sedex, where buying organisations share professional audits, and we are affiliated to Electronics Watch, a non-profit monitoring organisation in the global electronics industry.

Modern slavery risks (optional)

Warning Identifying modern slavery risks is a vital step towards eradicating it. The government encourages organisations to be as open and transparent as possible, to improve understanding, collaboration and best practice around tackling this worldwide problem.
We asked the organisation to describe up to 3 priority risks it focused on during the period of the statement, including details of the affected workers, the activity involved, and the location.

Priority risks for this organisation (1 of 3)

Rights of workers manufacturing electronics in East Asia, China, India, Eastern Europe, Mexico.
Questions we asked about this risk Organisation’s response
Where it was most likely to occur Organisation’s response: Within your supply chains.
  • Tier 1 suppliers
    Provide their products and services directly to your organisation.
Who was it most likely to affect Organisation’s response:
  • Women
In which country Organisation’s response:
  • China
  • India
  • Mexico
  • Poland
Actions or plans to address this risk Organisation’s response: We are affiliated to a non-profit, collaborative organisation monitoring global electronics supply chains for labour rights abuses. In this way, public sector bodies can work together to understand risks and work with the industry to take steps, including audits, to help mitigate the risks.

Priority risks for this organisation (2 of 3)

Rights of workers and migrant workers manufacturing garments in Bangladesh and China.
Questions we asked about this risk Organisation’s response
Where it was most likely to occur Organisation’s response: Within your supply chains.
  • Tier 1 suppliers
    Provide their products and services directly to your organisation.
Who was it most likely to affect Organisation’s response:
  • Women
In which country Organisation’s response:
  • Bangladesh
  • China
Actions or plans to address this risk Organisation’s response: We subscribe to Sedex, a shared ethical data exchange where buying organisations share professional audit reports on supplier's factories, with visibility of non-conformances and corrective actions recommended and taken.

Priority risks for this organisation (3 of 3)

Rights of temporary labourers providing cleaning, catering and security services in London.
Questions we asked about this risk Organisation’s response
Where it was most likely to occur Organisation’s response: Within your supply chains.
  • Tier 1 suppliers
    Provide their products and services directly to your organisation.
Who was it most likely to affect Organisation’s response:
  • Women
In which country Organisation’s response: United Kingdom
Actions or plans to address this risk Organisation’s response: We have obtained written assurances from both our soft FM and security services provider that they employ only directly-employed labour, massively reducing the risks of human trafficking from the unregulated use of third party labour agencies.

Indicators of forced labour (optional)

We asked the organisation whether its statement refers to finding any International Labour Organization (ILO) indicators of forced labour.
What are ILO indicators of forced labour?
The International Labour Organization (ILO) has produced a list of the most common signs of forced labour. They’re based on the definition of forced labour as ‘all work or service which is extracted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the said person has not offered himself voluntarily.’ More details and guidance are available on the ILO website, and in their publication ILO indicators of forced labour
Organisation’s response
The organisation told us its statement does not refer to finding any International Labour Organization (ILO) indicators of forced labour.

Demonstrating progress (optional)

We asked the organisation how its statement demonstrates progress over time in addressing modern slavery risks. They provided the following answer:
We measure the number and proportion of our suppliers registered on the Sedex system and specific actions taken to address individual risks, e.g. written assurances about worker recruitment practice from key contractors.