Modern Slavery Statement

Sapling & Stone Care Ltd provides therapeutic residential care for children and young people in England. We are headquartered in London and operate homes registered with Ofsted. Our supply chain primarily covers HR and recruitment services, IT and software, professional advisors, training providers, property maintenance, food and household goods, and clinical and therapeutic partners.

We have assessed our exposure to modern slavery and consider the principal risk areas to be:

• Recruitment - particularly where agency or international workers are involved.
• Property maintenance and cleaning - sub-contracted labour markets known to be at higher risk.
• Goods we purchase - including textiles, electronics and food whose upstream supply chains can extend overseas.
• Contextual safeguarding risk to young people - including child criminal and sexual exploitation, which we treat as a form of modern slavery affecting the people in our care.

To address these risks we have, and apply, the following measures:

• A safer recruitment policy that includes right-to-work checks, enhanced DBS where required, identity verification, employment history scrutiny, and direct payment of wages into the worker's own bank account.
• Contractual clauses with suppliers requiring compliance with the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and the right to terminate for breach.
• Procurement due diligence proportionate to risk, including supplier questionnaires for higher-risk categories.
• Mandatory safeguarding and exploitation awareness training for all staff, with specific modules on CSE, CCE, county lines and modern slavery indicators.
• Clear safeguarding, whistleblowing and complaints routes - including external escalation to Ofsted, the LADO and the Modern Slavery Helpline.

All staff receive training on recognising the signs of modern slavery and exploitation, both in the workplace and in the lives of the young people we support. Leaders responsible for procurement and recruitment receive additional training on supply-chain due diligence.

Anyone with concerns about modern slavery can raise them in confidence with our Designated Safeguarding Lead, or directly via the Modern Slavery & Exploitation Helpline on 08000 121 700. In an emergency, always call 999.

In our next reporting cycle we will continue to mature our supplier due diligence process, refresh exploitation training across the staff team, and review our policy suite in light of any updates to UK guidance.

This statement has been approved by the Board of Sapling & Stone Care Ltd and signed on its behalf by Shakil Dharas, Founder & Managing Director. It will be reviewed and reissued annually.