CSR Governance & Management
CSR Committee
Our CSR Committee meets formally four times a year and is responsible for developing the company's CSR principles and strategy, overseeing implementation and monitoring performance against objectives. It comprises individuals from a range of business functions and representatives of each of our key stakeholder groups.
Recognising the importance of Board involvement in the CSR programme, two members of the Group Board, Sir David Prosser and Tim Breedon, sat on the CSR Committee during the year. Sir David, Group Chief Executive until December 2005, chaired the Committee from March to December 2005, and his successor, Tim Breedon, has now taken over this role.
In addition the Group Board as a whole reviews the minutes of the CSR Committee, receives an annual presentation on the CSR programme and reviews the Committee, policy and programme annually.
During 2005, the members of the CSR Committee were:
| Name | Title | Specific area of responsibility |
|---|---|---|
| Sir David Prosser (chair) | Group Chief Executive | N/A |
| Stuart Billing | Head of UK Facilities | Health & Safety, Environment |
| Jane Boswell | CSR Manager | Co-ordination and reporting of CSR programme |
| Tim Breedon | Group Director (Investments) * | Socially Responsible Investment |
| Caroline Fawcett | Customer Experience Director | Customer-focused issues and brand |
| Gareth Hoskin | Resources & International Director | Human Resource management, overseas operations |
| Nick Manns | Amicus Representative | Representing our employees |
| Neville Walton | Corporate Communications Director | Community Involvement |
* Now Group Chief Executive
Corporate Governance Framework
The Group's overall Corporate Governance framework, which shows the positioning of the CSR Committee and each of its sub-committees, is as follows:
Management Framework & Risk Assessment
With reference to the Guiding Principles, the CSR Committee undertakes an annual review of social, environmental and ethical risks and opportunities in respect of our business and reputation. Responsibility for identifying specific risks and opportunities relating to different areas of CSR, and assessing their likelihood and impact, is delegated to the relevant Committee member, their management teams, or the appropriate sub-committee.
Objectives & Performance Measurement
Once identified, the ongoing management of these risks and opportunities is assigned to the appropriate CSR Committee member or sub-committee. Suitable objectives and targets are then set to ensure that the various issues and impact areas are properly managed and appropriately reported. We know it's important to set targets that are relevant, risk-based, measurable and directional, and we have sought to ensure that the targets established for 2006 follow these criteria.
Objectives are divided into the following categories:
- Stakeholder - deepening our engagement with the key stakeholder groups
- Management - improving our CSR management processes
- Performance - improving our performance
Reporting
The principal channels through which CSR performance is reported externally are:
- Annual and Interim Report & Accounts
- Annual online CSR Report
CSR issues are also reported on an ongoing basis to our staff via global emails, the intranet, the Gazette (our staff magazine) and our new online communication tool, the eGazette.
Feedback
Feedback on Legal & General's CSR performance is obtained through stakeholder engagement and the results of external rating agency studies, which are reviewed and discussed by the CSR Committee.