The LGA have published a councillor guide to tackling modern slavery.

Licensing has an important role to play tackling modern slavery and this is reflected in the LGA guidance.

The guidance states that “Other areas which have received less publicity but which are areas where councils may be able to help identify and disrupt modern slavery, or make responsible procurement choices, include:

•    Labour exploitation has been known to occur in licensed premises or restaurants, or be linked to hotels, meaning that licensing and environmental health teams have a role to play in being aware of modern slavery and able to appropriately refer any concerns they have.

•    Identifying how modern slavery fits within councillor roles and networks - As set out above, modern slavery cuts across a number of council services areas, including licensing, environmental health and trading standards, housing, community safety, customer contact and social services.

The councillor guide is accompanied by a number of case studies that also references the role of licensing in tackling modern slavery.