Cramped sweatshops where garment workers toil in unsafe conditions for unfair wages should be a scene confined to history books. Yet the fashion industry has once again been mired in repeated allegations of modern slavery and exploitation across textile factories in Leicester in recent weeks.

It started with Boohoo Group, owner of Boohoo, PrettyLittleThing, Karen Millen, Oasis, Warehouse and Coast. Earlier this month, a report by campaign group Labour Behind the Label and an undercover investigation from The Sunday Times claimed factories producing for the ever-expanding fast fashion empire did not adhere to Covid-19 social-distancing rules, told workers to come to work even if they showed symptoms of the virus and paid workers as little as 3.50/hour.

Boohoo Group brands were temporarily delisted by wholesale partners including Asos, Next and Zalando as a result of the allegations. The group has launched an immediate and independent review of its UK supply chain, and pledged to invest 10m to eradicate malpractice.

Quiz believes one of its Leicester suppliers had used a subcontractor, which was paying staff the illegal wages

Days later, another investigation by TheSunday Times found workers producing for fellow fast fashion retailer Quiz in Leicester were being offered 3/hour to make its clothing. Quiz said it was grateful that the alleged breaches had been highlighted, suspended activity with the supplier in question pending a full investigation and committed to a full review of its auditing processes. It added that it believed one of its Leicester suppliers had used a subcontractor, which was paying staff the illegal wages.

Allegations of illegal working practices in the UKs garment-manufacturing trade are not new: similar incidences of low wages were exposed in a documentary from Channel 4s Dispatches in 2017.

If you go back at least five years, there have been concerns about the textile industry in Leicester, as well as in London and in Manchester, about a whole range of labour abuses, Dame Sara Thornton, the UKs independent anti-slavery commissioner, tells Drapers. These range from health and safety issues right through to the most serious of crimes, which include labour exploitation and modern slavery.

So why is the fashion industry still failing to tackle the issue of labour abuses and exploitation? Thornton explains that the number of different bodies involved in preventing and enforcing anti-slavery legislation complicates the issue.

There have been attempts and operations from various organisation to do something [about modern slavery]. One of the issues is that enforcement falls to lots of different organisations: local councils, HMRC, the Health and Safety Executive, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, the police, the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority and the National Crime Agency. It is always very difficult to get a unified approach across lots of different organisations.

The second difficulty is that many of the victims are from overseas their English might not be very good and they might not be very confident. They may have taken low-paid work because they believe it is their best option, or weve also heard of unscrupulous employers persuading workers they are best off accepting low wages and then also claiming Universal Credit benefits. Any enforcement we do has to be about building trust and a relationship with these victims, who are also often worried about being deported because they havent got secure immigration status.

The complexity of the fashion industry can also make stamping out slavery difficult, adds Mark Sumner, lecturer in sustainability, retail andfashion at the University of Leeds, who has previously worked as a sustainability specialist at Marks & Spencer.

Fashion is an industry of industries: it is very closely connected to agriculture for the production of raw materials such as cotton, to the chemical industry for dyes and to the garment-manufacturing industry in a vast array of developed and developing nations. A garment could have been through five different countries, all with different legislation and definitions of modern slavery, before it ends up on the shop floor. With that level of complexity, it shouldnt be surprising that there are issues.

"When you sit in your office in London or Leeds or Leicester or Manchester and place your order, you might do as much as you can to manage those issues but its an uphill battle because of the complexity and opaqueness of supply chains.

Tamara Cincik, founder and CEO of lobby group Fashion Roundtable, adds: Laws around modern slavery are very difficult to enforce. Theres been a massive reduction in the number of police, which makes things more difficult. Theres also questions about how regularly garment factories are being checked by different organisations, if theyre being checked at the right times and if they are looking in the right places.

One former high street boss tells Drapers: The reason nothing has been able to be done before is because this has all been thrown toward the manufacturing side, but action on modern slavery has also got to have retailers backing, too. And the workforce has got to understand this as well. Its just such a complex issue and I think more rigorous legislation is required to ensure transparency across the supply chain and workforce.

Existing legislation is also failing to eradicate modern slavery. In addition to the mandatory National Minimum Wage, introduced in 1999, and the National Living Wage, which should prevent workers being paid illegally low wages, the Modern Slavery Act was introduced in 2015. It requires all UK businesses with an annual turnover of 36m or more to publish an annual statement setting out the steps they are taking to ensure slave labour is not being used anywhere in their supply chains or anywhere in their business.

Speaking at an evidence session for the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) for ethics and sustainability in fashion earlier this month, Mick Cheema, general manager of Leicester-based supplier Basic Premier, stressed his frustration that existing laws are not creating a level playing field.

Im trying to run a business and I should be worried about offshore competition. I shouldnt be worrying about people on our doorstep who are supplying goods at lower prices. Its an open secret and they are allowed to carry on. Why hasnt the HMRC or the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority got to the root cause?

I should be able to have discussion with retailers about price based on best practice and getting the best styles, quickly. There are laws that mean this shouldnt be happening. We should be able to fly the flag for British manufacturing proudly.

Part of the problem is that the Modern Slavery Act lacks teeth, experts tell Drapers. Although the government suggestssix areas businessescancover in their statements including due diligence processes and the parts of the business at risk there is no legal requirement to do so. There are no penalties for non-compliance and no central depository where different statements can be compared. A review into the Modern Slavery Act last year found severe deficiencies in how data is collected under the act. The Fixing Fashion report published last year by the environmental audit committee also proposed strengthening the Modern Slavery Act, but the government rejected the recommendation.

The Modern Slavery Act relies on the media, and non-governmental organisations to call out non-compliance, explains University of Leeds Sumner. When MPs ask why someone isnt doing something about modern slavery, it is because they would not allow the act to have sharper teeth. Weve also found that the act wants businesses to say: I have found issues of modern slavery and this what weve done about it. In fact, brands in clothing and in indeed any industry are reluctant to do that for fear of being lynched by the media.

Modern slavery is one of the most complicated and challenging problems facing fashion today. Drapers will be turning the spotlight on this shameful side of fashion online and in future issues.

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Analysis: why can't fashion wash out the dark stain of modern slavery? - Drapers