Agenda item

From Cabinet, 8 July 2025

Further to Minute 12/25 of Cabinet, the City Council considered a report of the Director of Law and Governance on the Coventry Protocol for Addressing Adult Modern Slavery. Appendices to the report provided: the Coventry Protocol for Addressing Adult Modern Slavery; the Plan on a Page; Equality Impact Assessment; Membership of Modern Slavery Protocol Partnership Group; Modern Slavery Protocol Partnership Input Overview; and Modern Slavery and Exploitation Governance Structure. 

The Council had a legal responsibility to address modern slavery under the Modern Slavery Act 2015, and the Modern Slavery: Statutory Guidance for England and Wales (under s49 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015). Locally, the modern slavery approach was co-ordinated through various subgroups within the Community Safety Partnership. Modern slavery and exploitation were key priorities in the Coventry Community Safety Partnership Plan 2025-2028. The Coventry Protocol for Addressing Adult Modern Slavery (The Protocol) was the first document to formalise the city’s operational and strategic response to adult exploitation.

The Protocol set out the strategic vision for the Coventry Modern Slavery Partnership, the city’s multi-agency forum tasked with determining and implementing the strategic response to adult exploitation. The Protocol also presented the operational pathways to guide frontline professionals through the practicalities of modern slavery case management. 

RESOLVED that the City Council supports and endorses the Coventry Protocol for Addressing Adult Modern Slavery.