This statement applies to Forest Homecare Limited (the Company) and is made pursuant to section 54(6) of the UK Modern Slavery Act 2015 (the “Act”). It constitutes the Company’s slavery and human trafficking statement for the financial year ended 31st March 2025.
About the Company
Forest Homecare Limited is a Domiciliary Care provider organisation founded in 1994. It’s trading operations comprise of the provision of community-based care and support to local residents within their own homes. Placements into our services are funded by local authorities, clinical commissioning groups and other organisations in the health and social care sector, as well as directly by the individuals we support themselves.
Our structure
The Company operates from three offices in Essex and Suffolk with a central shared services function at our Head Office. Each operational office is managed in accordance with local governance and regulations. We have policies and procedures in place where relevant and required and adapt these to best meet local regulation, requirements and practices and to best manage our business and people.
Due to the nature of our business and the size of our offices we operate a centralised procurement model which utilises local buying and operational team members.
Our staff are engaged on full-time, part-time or flexible working arrangements and are appropriately remunerated and incentivised.
Modern slavery
The Company remains committed to being a responsible business and recognises the importance of tackling the risk of modern slavery in our business.
We are committed to the welfare of all our employees, including in terms of pay, working hours, environment, health and safety and wellbeing. We will not tolerate violations of basic human rights or employment practices by or against any employees, or within our supply chain.
As a professional service provider, we acknowledge that the care sector is deemed to be a key risk sector as our employees work in roles that receive low pay and the work is considered low-skilled. Due to the transient nature of the workforce and the historic reliance on migrant workers, current labour shortages have created a further opportunity for workers to be exploited.
We adhere to the highest standards of human rights and labour rights, ensuring fair and ethical treatment of all our employees.
Supply chain
Our supply chain primarily consists of professional, IT, insurance and consulting services, along with purchased equipment such as PPE and stationery, etc.
We continuously review our suppliers to ensure that we have the information we need to make informed decisions and minimise risk.
Training
Training is provided to staff members to understand the risks of modern slavery and human trafficking in our supply chains and business. This training covers an explanation of what constitutes modern slavery and high-risk areas, warning signs to be aware of and what action or steps to take in response.
Recruitment and selection
The Company has appropriate controls in place to ensure employees have the right to work and are therefore protected by employment legislation. This includes checking right-to-work documents, visas and passports.
In the UK, we also verify that employees have supplied proof of address/residence to work in the country. The Company is also actively adopting more inclusive hiring practices globally by increasing line manager awareness and accountability of unconscious bias in the hiring process and therefore driving a more objective recruitment process.
We also source candidates through more diverse recruitment channels, aiming to increase the proportion of under-represented groups in the workplace. Likewise, the Company uses only specified, reputable employment organisations to source candidates.
The Company does not employ individuals who would be considered ‘child workers’. Young and inexperienced workers may be employed, but they are subject to the rights and protections that we afford all workers.
Basic rights which we expect all employees to have access to include:
- The right to a reasonable wage (eg. UK Living Wage);
- The right to a safe working environment;
- The right to an appropriate level of holiday and cover for a period of sickness;
- The freedom to complain directly or via our whistleblowing policy.
The above are monitored to ensure that all employees have access to the whistleblowing policy and phone number should they believe that they are not being fairly treated or have any other concerns.
Policies
The Company has policies to mitigate the risk of modern slavery and sets out steps to be taken to prevent slavery and human trafficking in its operations.
Whistleblowing
The Company encourages all its employees, third parties or counterparties (eg. Service users) to report any concerns related to the direct activities or the supply chains of the organisation. This includes any circumstances that may give rise to an enhanced risk of slavery or human trafficking.
The Company’s whistleblowing procedure is designed to make it easy for any individual to make disclosures without fear of reprisal. Alternatively, disclosures can be reported by employees notifying their line manager or a senior manager who will conduct or arrange for a senior individual to conduct an anonymous investigation. Otherwise, the individual may deem it appropriate to contact a legislative body, in which case, examples of the relevant authorities are listed in the Company’s Whistleblowing Policy.
Across all disclosure routes, no calls or direct disclosures were made in 2024 in relation to modern slavery and trafficking.
Looking forward
In 2025, as we grow as a business, the importance, number and scale of relationships in our supply chain grows too. We continue to take steps to assess areas where modern slavery could be a possibility and look at the best and most effective mechanisms to manage these risks.
Slavery and human trafficking statement as required under s54, Part 6, of the UK Modern Slavery Act 2015 for the financial year ended 31st March 2025.
16th April 2025