§ Linda PerhamTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, in what ways she has encouraged companies to report on the social and environmental implications of their activities. [79055]
§ Miss Melanie JohnsonThe Government have undertaken a wide range of activity to encourage companies to report on their environmental and social performance. This includes the Prime Minister's challenge to the top 350 companies to publish annual environmental reports, the work of the Pioneers group on Sectoral Sustainability Strategies and practical386W assistance such as the General Guidelines on Environmental Reporting produced by DEFRA and DTI and published in collaboration with the CBI.
In the Modernising Company Law White Paper, the Government proposed that economically significant companies be required to prepare an operating and financial review. The proposals would require information on the company's impact on the environment and wider community, where relevant to an understanding of the company's business, to be covered in the narrative report.
§ Linda PerhamTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, if she plans that subclauses 75(2)(d)-(e) of the Draft Clauses contained in Modernising Company Law (Cm. 5553) would require the reporting on all significant environmental, social and community impacts of a company covered by this section, were these clauses to be enacted. [79171]
§ Miss Melanie JohnsonIf enacted as presently drafted, clause 75 would require the directors of a company to which it applied to consider whether certain information should be included in its Operating and Financial Review in order to permit the members to make an informed assessment of the company.
While subsections 75(2)(d) and (e) refer to a company's policies on environmental issues, and on social and community issues, relevant to the company's business, subsection (f) relates to the company's performance against those policies.
Further detail on the draft clauses on the Operating and Financial Review is at Annex D of "Modernising Company Law, Cm 5553-I".
§ Linda PerhamTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, if she will use the Company Law Review to ensure that companies assess the impact of social and environmental issues on their businesses. [79051]
§ Miss Melanie JohnsonThe Government's response to the Company Law Review is set out in the White Paper "Modernising Company Law (Cm 5553)". It contains proposals for a statutory statement of duties that would require all directors to recognise so far as is practical in the circumstances social and environmental issues in deciding how best to promote the success of the company for the benefit of its members. It also proposes that the most economically significant companies should report on their policies on these issues, where they are necessary for an informed assessment of the business, as part of a statutory Operating and Financial Review.