Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2020, published 109th ILC session (2021)

Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) - United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (Ratification: 1931)
Protocol of 2014 to the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 - United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (Ratification: 2016)

The Committee notes the information provided by the Government in its 2019 report as well as the supplementary information provided by the Government in light of the decision adopted by the Governing Body at its 338th Session (June 2020). The Committee also notes the observations of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) received on 30 August 2019, and the Government’s reply to these observations, received on 12 November 2019. It notes that the TUC sent supplementary information on 1 October 2020.

Article (2)(2)(c) of the Convention. Sentence of unpaid work requirements. In its previous comments, the Committee referred to the 2015 conclusions of the tripartite committee established to examine a representation submitted by the trade unions UNISON, GMB and Napo, alleging non-observance of the Convention (GB.325/INS/15/8). The representation addressed the contractual arrangements made by the Government with privately owned Community Rehabilitation Centers (CRCs) which were in charge of placing offenders with providers to perform community work imposed as a consequence of a judicial decision. The tripartite committee noted that while being privately owned, the CRCs carried out public functions on behalf of the State; and the work undertaken by offenders was carried out in the general interest of the community.

The Committee observed that unpaid work requirements were imposed without offenders giving their consent to such sentences. As a form of compulsory work imposed as a consequence of a judicial decision, its performance must remain within the limits of the exception to forced labour provided for in Article 2(2)(c) of the Convention. Consequently, the Committee requested the Government to continue to ensure that the work performed under unpaid work requirements was adequately monitored; that CRCs were subject to the regular scrutiny of the public authorities; and that compulsory work performed under a sentence of unpaid work requirements was not undertaken for private entities.

The Committee notes that the Government reiterates that the CRC contracts are subject to robust contract management procedures and governance arrangements. The contractor is required to: disclose details of all income that exceeds the cost of providing unpaid work; demonstrate how it has reinvested that income in the provision of the services; disclose its delivery models and the amount of income generated by outsourcing unpaid work to a subcontractor; and demonstrate that it will not profit directly from unpaid work. The Government provides a selection of responses from two CRCs, out of the 21 operating, in which they generally state that they comply with these requirements.

The Committee notes that in its 2019 observations the TUC, based on independent audits and inspections of the Transforming Rehabilitation programme (the Government’s probation privatization programme), affirms that the Government has failed to subject the CRCs to rigorous contractual oversight and inspections aiming at ensuring that CRCs are deploying unpaid work properly. The TUC also maintains that unpaid work has been placed at the disposal of private companies in the form of the third party profit-making beneficiaries of unpaid work. The Committee further notes that in its 2020 supplementary observations, the TUC indicates that on 11 June 2020, the Government announced to the House of Commons that it would end the competitive process for probation delivery partners and that, from June 2021, unpaid work will be brought under the control of a public authority (the National Probation Service).

The Committee welcomes the Government’s statement to the House of Commons to the effect that from June 2021 private entities will no longer be in charge of placing sentenced offenders with providers to perform community work, allowing for better compliance with Article 2(2)(c) of the Convention. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the effective implementation of this measure and to continue to provide information on the nature of the entities that benefit from unpaid work, as well as on the type of general interest work undertaken.