Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Statement

Introduction

Urban Group of Care Limited (“we”, “our”, “the Company”) is committed to preventing modern slavery, human trafficking, servitude, forced or compulsory labour and labour exploitation in every part of our operations and supply chains. We act in accordance with the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and expect everyone who works for us or with us — employees, contractors and suppliers — to uphold the same standard.

Our Legal Position and Voluntary Commitment

Urban Group of Care Limited is not a “relevant commercial organisation” for the purposes of section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, because our annual turnover is below the £36 million threshold at which a statement becomes a legal requirement. We are therefore not legally obliged to publish a slavery and human trafficking statement.

We publish this statement voluntarily because preventing exploitation is a matter of principle for a care provider, and because the people we support are among those most vulnerable to abuse. The criminal prohibitions in the Act — against slavery, servitude, forced labour and human trafficking — apply to us and to everyone regardless of turnover, and we hold ourselves fully accountable to them.

Purpose and Scope

The purpose of this statement and the policies behind it is to ensure that Urban Group of Care Limited does not, whether directly or through anyone in its supply chain, cause, contribute to, facilitate, profit from or fail to detect:

Slavery, servitude, forced or compulsory labour — including any work obtained through coercion, threat or deception.
Human trafficking — the recruitment, movement or harbouring of any person for exploitation.
Labour exploitation — including debt bondage, withholding of wages, unlawful deductions, retention of identity documents, charging workers recruitment fees, or excessive working hours.

This statement applies to all of our employees, the people who lead and manage the Company, our agency or temporary arrangements (where used), and the contractors and suppliers we engage. It covers both our own workforce and the people we support, who can themselves be victims of exploitation.

Our Organisation, Services and Supply Chains

Urban Group of Care Limited is a CQC-registered provider of regulated care for adults aged 18–64 and 65 and over in their own homes. Our services include personal care, medication support, dementia support, physical disability and sensory-impairment support, end-of-life care and live-in care.

Our supply chain is short and low-complexity: it consists mainly of our own directly-employed care workforce, together with suppliers of training, IT and care-management software, PPE and consumables, insurance and professional services. We engage contractors suppliers responsibly and take steps to ensure that no goods or services we procure are produced under conditions of modern slavery or exploitation.

Modern Slavery Risk in the Care Sector

We recognise that adult social care is a sector of heightened risk for labour exploitation, particularly where workers are recruited internationally, employed through agencies or umbrella arrangements, or paid below the legal minimum. We have assessed our own exposure against these risks and have deliberately structured the Company to reduce them:

Direct employment. Every care worker is employed directly by the Company on a PAYE contract. We do not use self-employed or umbrella models that can obscure exploitation.
No international sponsorship. We hold no UK sponsor licence and employ no one under an international sponsorship route, removing a recognised channel for tiedlabour exploitation.
Fair, lawful pay. We pay at or above the National Living Wage, including for noncontact and training time, and make no unlawful deductions.
No recruitment fees. We never charge workers fees to obtain or keep work, and we never retain a worker’s identity documents.

Policies in Place

This statement is supported by our Safer Recruitment Policy, Safeguarding Adults Policy, Whistleblowing Policy, Equality and Diversity Policy and Disciplinary Policy. Together these set out how we recruit, employ, supervise and protect our workforce, and how concerns are raised and acted upon.

Due Diligence and Safer Recruitment

We carry out the following checks and controls before and during employment:

Right-to-work verification for every worker, with original documents seen and recorded.
Enhanced DBS checks and full employment-history review, with all gaps explained and two satisfactory references obtained.
Identity and address verification to confirm each worker is who they say they are and is free to work without coercion.
Direct payment of wages into the worker’s own bank account — never to a third party — so pay cannot be diverted by a controller.
Supervision and welfare contact that gives workers regular, confidential opportunities to raise concerns.

Our Commitments

Staff: All employees are recruited in line with employment law and registration requirements. Staff are trained to recognise the signs of modern slavery and are encouraged to report any concerns through our safeguarding and whistleblowing procedures, without fear of penalty.

Contractors and suppliers: We expect all partners to maintain zero-tolerance policies against modern slavery and human trafficking and to ensure their own supply chains are free from exploitation. We will not knowingly engage a supplier that fails to meet this standard.

Safeguarding: If there is any suspicion or evidence that a person we support or an employee is subject to exploitation or modern slavery, we act immediately, alert the relevant safeguarding authority or the police, and follow our safeguarding procedures in full.

Training: Staff involved in care delivery, recruitment and procurement receive training to identify and respond to the risks of modern slavery and to ensure compliance with the law, refreshed in line with our training schedule.

Risk Management and Due Diligence

Urban Group of Care Limited carries out regular assessments of its operations and supply chains to identify and mitigate the risk of modern slavery. Any concern is promptly investigated, recorded, and acted upon, and reported to the appropriate authority where required.

Measuring Effectiveness

We monitor the effectiveness of this statement through the proportion of relevant staff who have completed modern-slavery and safeguarding training, the number of concerns raised and how they were resolved, and confirmation that recruitment and pay controls have been applied. We aim to maintain zero substantiated incidents of modern slavery across our operations and supply chain, and we use any learning to strengthen our controls.

Governance, Annual Review and Approval

This statement is reviewed at least annually to ensure it remains current and compliant with best practice and legislation, and is owned at director level. It has been approved by the Board of Directors of Urban Group of Care Limited.

Signed: AmarachiRegina

Name: Amarachi Regina Abanum
Role: Director and Registered Manager

Date of approval: 10th May 2026
Date of next review: 10th May 2027