Corporate sustainability policies and governance

We are a large business operating in a highly regulated environment, and we have formal policies governing many areas of our operation to ensure regulatory compliance, and consistent good business practice. Policies most relevant to our corporate sustainability agenda include:

• Code of Conduct
• Environment Policy (PDF)
• Health & Safety (PDF)
• Diversity
• Human Rights
• Responsible Purchasing (PDF)
• PwC in the Community

Management

The UK board has appointed a governance group to oversee our corporate sustainability programme, consisting of four board members each with the specific responsibilities listed:-

Richard Collier Keywood – (Chair) - Community engagement
James Chalmers – Workplace – Employee issues, Human Rights
Paul Rawlinson – Marketplace – Client issues
Keith Tilson – Environment, Supply chain, Occupational Health & Safety

Benchmarking

We benchmark our performance by taking part in the Business in the Community Corporate Responsibility Survey. We were Platinum rated, achieving an overall score of 98.5%, in the 2007 survey (published May 2008).

The survey encourages transparency in reporting, and we include here our survey feedback report (PDF 161K).  [Feedback report attached]

Assurance

The summary data included in the annual report has been reviewed by our independent auditors, Horwath Clark Whitehill LLP, who report as follows:

"Based on the work undertaken, we confirm that the 2008 Corporate Sustainability KPIs identified reflect the underlying supporting information from which they are based, and the systems and processes used to collate the information appear reasonable."

In order to understand the scope of this review, please read the full report here. (PDF 680K).