How can investors drive up labour standards in the English care sector?
(…) Due to the complex financial ownership structures within the English social care sector, there is a need to go beyond typical shareholder engagement if labour exploitation problems in the sector are to be addressed.
Our analysis of ethical reporting based on the CCLA modern slavery benchmark scoring system reveals that 48 out of 58 companies (82.8%) of our sample had produced an annual modern slavery statement. While this represents a majority, it also highlights a significant gap, with 17.2% of these major providers failing to meet their legal transparency obligations. Among those reporting, there is also considerable variation in the quality and comprehensiveness of disclosure. On average, companies scored just 36%, with scores ranging from 8% to 73%. Only a few providers demonstrate good practice with just four providers scoring 50% or above, and 37 providers falling in the 25-49% range, indicating substantial room for improvement. (…)