Modern Slavery

In November 2019, Radian Group Ltd and Yarlington Housing Group created a new partnership, bringing together several housing providers. Our companies employ more than 1350 staff and we own and manage 38,000 units across the south and south west of England.

For the purposes of this statement, ‘Abri’ refers to the parent company of the group (Abri Group Ltd) and these housing providers:

• Yarlington Housing Group
• The Swaythling Housing Society Ltd
• Drum Housing Association Ltd
• Portal Housing Association Ltd

These housing providers are Registered Societies under the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014 and registered with the Regulator of Social Housing.

The majority of our properties are general needs housing, but also includes sheltered and supported housing, together with key worker accommodation, shared ownership, market rent and private sale properties.

We take a zero-tolerance approach to modern slavery across all areas of the organisation, as well as in our supply chains. We are committed to ensuring we are not connected to modern slavery in any way and our aim is to ensure that our business always operates in an open and transparent way.

Our commitment is reflected in our Anti-slavery and Human Trafficking Policy which is available on request.

We are committed to tackle modern slavery and human trafficking and want to work with suppliers who share our values.

We aim to work in partnership with all our contractors, suppliers and other business partners to ensure that they share and work towards the same values we hold against slavery and human trafficking.

Our people policies emphasise our commitment to creating an inclusive environment in which colleagues are free from discrimination, harassment or victimisation.

We encourage a positive work-life balance and promote staff wellbeing. Employees may raise concerns under our Whistleblowing Policy, Dignity at Work Policy, or Grievance Policy. Colleagues also have access to a free, independent and confidential Employee Assistance Programme.

We maintain robust recruitment processes and our Resourcing Procedure contains all relevant requirements with regards to checking eligibility to work in the UK, employment reference checks, and any additional necessary checks such as DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service).

All our employees are issued with an employment contract which adheres to relevant UK employment legislation. Our job evaluation process helps to ensure that pay is fair and consistent.

Abri’s procurement activities operate in England. We aim to run our business with the highest standards and support the principles of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and the abolition of modern slavery and human trafficking.

Most of our suppliers and contractors are UK based companies but we know that some of the products we purchase are imported from overseas countries, for example, building materials, clothing, IT equipment and mobile technology and consider these to be higher risk than others.

This statement summarises the steps we have taken in the last 12 months and the approach we will take over the next 12 months.

1. We maintained a fair, transparent and responsible purchasing process which includes a request for compliance with the Act through the suppliers’ own modern slavery statement or our standard Terms and Conditions.
2. We also promoted positive supplier relationship management and robust contract management principles with the aim of fully understanding our supplier’s business and their supply chain.
3. We continued to educate, train and raise awareness of the Modern Slavery Act with our colleagues.
4. We introduced an e-learning module which covers the Modern Slavery Act and the principles, including the potential risk areas.

1. Abri’s Procurement Team, with the support of operational areas, will conduct a full review of how we appraise, approve and manage our suppliers and contractors.
2. We will continue to raise awareness internally, educate and train those that conduct buying activities.
3. We will analyse, review and define our suppliers and contractors that support us in understanding where our risks are.
4. We will continue to work with our suppliers and contractors that support our business values and can support us in demonstrating adequate controls are in place to monitor the risk at each stage of the supply chain, from source of material through to delivery.
5. We will refresh our code of conduct which will be rolled out to our existing suppliers and contractors and included within our on-boarding process for new suppliers.
6. We will continue to monitor, assess and manage risks associated with slavery and human trafficking.
7. We will continue to make all relevant pre-employment checks prior to employing staff.
8. We will continue to provide to colleagues a range of wellbeing services, activities and support that promote a positive work-life balance.
9. We will ensure a high level of understanding of the risk of modern slavery and human trafficking across the entire organisation by implementing consistent training for all colleagues from both legacy organisations.
10. In recognition of the increased risk of modern slavery in construction, we will establish annual training requirements for job roles which interact directly with our building sites and construction partners.
11. We will publish bi-annual all-colleague communications to maintain awareness of the ongoing risk of modern slavery and human trafficking.

This statement is made pursuant to section 54(1) Modern Slavery Act 2015 and was approved by the Board of Abri.

Lindy Morgan
Chair

16 July 2020