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Exceptional Education at the Heart of the Community

Exceptional Education at the Heart of the Community

Modern Slavery

Oasis Community Learning Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Statement

Introduction

Oasis is a movement of volunteers, activists and professionals that works in 36 communities across the UK. Through our integrated ‘Community hub' model, we seek to create a new sense of neighbourhood in communities that had previously been forgotten by society so that everyone, regardless of their background and starting point, can join together to overcome life’s hurdles and reach their God-given potential.

Oasis Community Learning is part of a global family that collectively works around the world delivering a range of projects and services that help tackle social injustice in whatever form it manifests itself.

STOP THE TRAFFIK, like Oasis Community Learning, is part of the group of organisations that make up the Oasis global family and is a pioneer in human trafficking prevention. STOP THE TRAFFIK works to unite people around the world by inspiring, informing, equipping, and mobilising communities to:

  • Know what trafficking is
  • Know how to identify it and how to respond
  • Know how to protect themselves and others

Oasis Community Learning and STOP THE TRAFFIK believe human trafficking and modern slavery are truly global issues. Our goal is to build resilient communities, by turning them into places where it is harder for traffickers to hide their activities and their victims.

This statement sets out Oasis Community Learning's actions to understand all potential modern slavery risks related to its activity and to put in place steps that are aimed at ensuring that there is no slavery or human trafficking in its own business and its supply chains. This statement relates to actions and activities during the financial year 1st of September 2023 to 31 August 2024.

As part of the education sector, the organisation recognises that it has a responsibility to take a robust approach to slavery and human trafficking.

Oasis Community Learning is absolutely committed to preventing slavery and human trafficking in its mission to deliver exceptional education at the heart of the community, and to ensuring that its supply chains are free from slavery and human trafficking. Oasis Community Learning is actively working with STOP THE TRAFFIK to ensure that our work is free of human trafficking.

We hope that our five ethos values of inclusion, relationships, equality, hope, and perseverance permeate everything we do and are obvious wherever and whenever anyone encounters Oasis Community Learning.

Our five ethos values:

  • A passion to include everyone
  • A desire to treat everyone equally, respecting differences
  • A commitment to healthy and open relationships
  • A deep sense of hope that things can change and be transformed
  • A sense of perseverance to keep going for the long haul

Organisational structure and Supply chains

This statement covers the activities of Oasis Community Learning:

  • We were established in 2004 with a vision to create "Exceptional Education at the Heart of the Community" and have since grown into a family of 52 Academies
  • We currently serve over 32,000 young people, 51% of whom are from disadvantaged backgrounds and 31% speak English as an additional language.
  • We are determined to raise the educational bar for all our students and to close the educational gap that exists between disadvantaged students and their more privileged counterparts.
  • Our academies are in four main regions of England, providing either primary, secondary or all-through education.
  • Our strong ethos is integral to our educational provision – it is an expression of our character, a statement of who we are and therefore the lens through which we assess all that we do.
  • We employ over 4500 staff and all of our operations are currently based in the UK.

Please find further information relating to our activities and structure at the link https://oasiscommunitylearning.finalsite.com/about-us/who-we-are

Risk Management

As part of our initiative to identify and mitigate risk we have identified the principal areas which carry material risks. Oasis Community Learning ensures that suppliers are required to demonstrate their methods of corporate social responsibility during the tendering and selection process, details of which may vary according to the project. Suppliers to Oasis Community Learning are required to fully comply with the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and are confirming that they do so by accepting the Oasis Community Learning Terms and Conditions. Oasis Community Learning reserves the right to exclude any bidder who has been convicted of an offence under the Modern Slavery Act 2015.

Additionally, we have in place systems to:

  • Identify and assess potential risk areas in our supply chains.
  • Mitigate the risk of slavery and human trafficking occurring in our supply chains.
  • Protect whistle blowers.

Procurement and Supply chain management

A considerable proportion of our procurement is with suppliers who are pre-approved either by a purchasing consortium such as Crown Commercial Services (CCS) and Crescent Purchasing Consortium (CPC), or appointed through means of a formal tender process. Our supply chains include:

  • education equipment, textbooks and resources suppliers
  • student and staff uniform suppliers
  • estate management maintenance and services
  • ICT equipment and services
  • catering services and supplies
  • cleaning services and supplies
  • peripatetic music services
  • supply/agency staff

In 2023/24 we identified that some of our procurement takes place within sectors where modern slavery offences could occur, such as within our cleaning and catering supply chains and within the construction industry. We will be taking the following steps to promote awareness of this during 2024/25:

  • Continuing to raise awareness amongst National, Regional and Academy based teams involved in employment, procurement and management, of the risks of modern slavery occurring within our supply chains
  • Include compliance with the Modern Slavery Act and Living Wage Accreditation as a condition or criterion in specification and tender documents wherever possible
  • Ensure our supplier on-boarding process includes due diligence around adherence to the Modern Slavery Act 2015
  • Ensure suppliers have access to our standard Terms & Conditions which require compliance to the Modern Slavery Act
  • Look for supplier aggregation opportunities in high-risk areas, such as cleaning, to better manage the risks associated with Modern Slavery
  • Work closely with key partners to better understand how they are managing risks associated with Modern Slavery
  • Consult with our recognised Trade Unions

Our policies to resist modern slavery and human trafficking

We are confident that our policies promote good behaviour among our colleagues at work and within OCL. Our policies and procedures are kept under review to make sure that they reflect the changing needs of Oasis Community Learning and of the staff, students/pupils, and the communities it serves.

Among the policies that we consider give us strength in avoiding modern slavery or human trafficking under the Act in Oasis Community Learning are:

  • Code of Conduct & Confidentiality
  • Equality & Diversity Policy
  • A phased roll out of our EDI Staff Network Forums
  • Fraud Policy
  • Gifts, Hospitality & Related Party Policy
  • Safer Recruitment Policy
  • Whistleblowing Policy
  • The phased launch of the Navex Whistleblowing System

The whistleblowing policy has been amended to draw attention to the risk of modern slavery or human trafficking and to stress that a report of concern in relation to those matters can be made under the protection of the whistleblowing policy.

Our EDI (Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion) staff forums also play a crucial role in delivering our modern-day slavery statement in the UK. By fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace, our forums provide a platform for employees to raise concerns, share insights, and promote awareness around issues like forced labour and human trafficking. Our EDI forums encourage collaboration across departments, ensuring that policies aimed at eradicating modern slavery are not only understood but also actively enforced. They help create a culture of accountability, where employees feel empowered to report unethical practices and advocate for fair treatment within supply chains. This collective approach strengthens our resolve to prevent exploitation and aligns with our legal and ethical obligations to combat modern slavery.

We are determined that there shall be no modern slavery or human trafficking in Oasis Community Learning. Our policies evidence our commitment to act ethically and with integrity throughout our organisation. 

All tenders for supply of services and or goods include a requirement for the supplier to report on their ethical trading including ensuring they also comply with the Modern Slavery Act 2015. 

Training and continuing vigilance

We have discussed the Act, its purpose and Oasis Community Learning’s attitude to it at a Board of Directors meeting. We have alerted the Executive Leadership Team to it and challenged them to continue to consider where the risk of modern slavery or human trafficking may arise within our organisation. We have provided guidance to our finance team and those involved in procurement of the need to avoid those risks and on possible indicators of them during the procurement of goods and services. We will continue to enhance the assurances we seek from suppliers as to their avoidance of modern slavery and human trafficking.

Declaration

This statement has been approved by Oasis Community Learning’s Board of Directors and is made pursuant to section 54(1) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015.

Chair of Oasis Community Learning Board

Caroline Taylor

24.10.2024

CEO of Oasis Community Learning

John Barneby

24.10.2024

Use the link below to download a copy of this document.

OCL Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Statement