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Specific statement:

"We understand that our biggest exposure to Modern Slavery is in our product supply chains, where we have undertaken activity over last decade to minimise the risk of Modern Slavery. Within these areas, new suppliers and factories/sites are subject to due diligence checks in the form of ethical/compliance audits conducted by or on behalf of M&S. Such audits are also regularly conducted for existing suppliers and factories/sites. these audits assess compliance with the Global Sourcing Principles and are, amongst other things, intended to identify any Modern Slavery practices. If issues are identified, appropriate investigative and remedial actions will be taken.During 2015/16, ethical audits identified 14 non-compliances under the heading ‘employment is freely chosen’, this included absence of a clear policy on forced labour, reports from workers that toilet breaks were restricted, deposit payments for protective equipment, and retention of passports of workers. All instances have been followed up, for example, by working with experts on the ground to undertake more detailed visits, and to identify remedial actions. Recognising the limitations of ‘mainstream’ ethical audits to identify Modern Slavery issues, and based on information received through our Human rights risk assessment process, we have also begun to undertake a number of additional due diligence audits with leading forced labour experts. To date, such audits have been carried out in Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines "