Modern Slavery Statement

Here are the steps the National Space Centre has taken and continues to take to understand and minimise the potential risk of modern slavery in its business and supply chains. This statement is published in line with section 54(1) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015.

About the National Space Centre

The National Space Centre is a charity and science centre that delivers an exciting, high-quality experience on-site and a range of educational and creative services elsewhere in the UK and overseas. At the heart of the vision is the philosophy Space for Everyone; designed to ensure that everyone, regardless of background or means, feels valued as a recipient, or potential recipient, of a National Space Centre service. This philosophy is complemented by values and behaviours that make it an appealing place to work, to visit, with which to do business and from which to receive trusted information.
Our commitment to the principles of the Modern Slavery Act 2015

The National Space Centre is committed to the principles of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and the abolition of modern slavery and human trafficking.

Our recruitment and people management processes are designed to ensure that all prospective employees are legally entitled to work in the UK and to safeguard employees from any abuse or coercion. As an equal opportunities’ employer, we're committed to creating and ensuring a non-discriminatory and respectful working environment for our staff. We want all our staff to feel confident that they can expose wrongdoing without any risk to themselves.

We do not enter into business with any organisation, in the UK or abroad, which knowingly supports or is found to be involved in slavery, servitude and forced compulsory labour.
Our supply chain

Due to the nature of our business, we assess ourselves to have a low risk of modern slavery in our business and supply chain.

We have carried out risk assessments to identify the areas of the business most at risk and continue to identify what can be done to mitigate those risks.

Modern slavery, including the areas of our supply chain identified as most at risk, has been added to our operational risk register which is reviewed by the audit and risk committee twice a year.

We procure goods and services from a range of predominantly UK suppliers, with limited overseas procurement. Purchasing and procurement are governed by a set of Financial Policies and our procurement policy includes criteria relating to ethical considerations.

It is our aim to develop over time a set of broader procurement procedures which will be used to encourage our suppliers to provide assurances that they have undertaken appropriate due diligence to ensure that there is no slavery or human trafficking within the supply chains that serve their contract.

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Our policies in relation to the Modern Slavery Act 2015

The following policies are available to all staff in the staff handbook:

Ethics policy
Whistleblowing policy
Anti-Bullying and harassment policy
Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion policy
Anti-Money Laundering policy
Anti-Fraud, Bribery and gifts policy
Safeguarding policy
Safer Recruitment policy

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Embedding the principles

We will continue to embed the principles through:

Being a National Living Wage employer.
Undertaking robust employment checks including right to work checks on all employees, including casual staff.
Any staff working on a Visa are checked against the Home Office database.
It is the responsibility of Recruitment Agencies to carry out checks on agency workers. We only use reputable agencies for agency staff.
Ensuring that consideration of the modern slavery risks and prevention are added to the National Space Centre’s policy operational risk register and reviewed twice a year.

Next Steps

Review National Space Centre’s procurement strategies, and contract terms and conditions to include references to modern slavery and human trafficking, particularly in those areas most at risk.
Continue to take action to embed a zero-tolerance culture towards modern slavery.
Identify and implement training on modern slavery and ethical employment practices for staff involved in buying or procurement and the recruitment and deployment of workers.