united-utilities-annual-report-2015

UNITED UTILITIES GROUP PLC ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2015Stock Code: UU.unitedutilities.comCorporate governance reportCorporate responsibility committeeCorporate responsibilitycommittee members• Dr Catherine Bell (chair)• Stephen Carter• Steve MogfordRead biographies of the directorson pages 58 and 59Dr Catherine BellChair of the corporateresponsibility committeeDear shareholder,I am pleased to report on the work ofthe corporate responsibility committee(CRC) over the past 12 months.There have been a number of changesduring the year to the membership ofthe committee. As planned, Nick Salmonstood down at the AGM in July 2014 andStephen Carter joined the board andthe committee on 1 September 2014.I am pleased to welcome Stephen as amember of the committee. His viewsand previous experience on corporateresponsibility issues in other businesseshave added valuable perspective to thework of the committee.The committee examined progressmade by the company in delivering itsobjectives to provide the best serviceto customers, at the lowest sustainablecost and in a responsible manner. Actingresponsibly helps us to be a successfullong-term business for shareholders andcustomers.We measure ourselves againstnational and international benchmarks,independently and externally assessed.We were delighted to retain ‘World Class’status in the Dow Jones SustainabilityIndex for the seventh consecutive yearand, for the first time, we became theleader in the multi-utility and watersector. Given our long-term stewardshiprole in managing water and wastewater,we also assess our effectivenessin the management of the risks andopportunities linked to climate change.In 2014, we achieved our best everresult in the Carbon Disclosure Projectin which over 90 per cent of the FTSE100 participate to describe theirapproach to climate change; we are nowmembers of their Disclosure LeadershipIndex. And very recently we securedthe Carbon Trust Water Standard forour efforts to reduce water use in WestCumbria.In addition to these externalbenchmarks, last year the boardapproved the development andpublication of a detailed corporateresponsibility (CR) performancescorecard, to give greater transparencyto responsible business performancefor those working in the companyand for external stakeholders.Performance against the CR scorecardwas reported in the United Utilities2014 corporate responsibilityreport: corporateresponsibility2014.unitedutilities.com. This showedstrong performance on most of themeasures. As we begin the next fiveyearinvestment period, this year theCRC will reset the responsible businessmeasures and targets out to 2020,Quick facts• The committee comprises threedirectors appointed by the board,two of whom are independent nonexecutivedirectors• The company secretary attends allmeetings of the committee• The finance director; thecorporate affairs director, whohas responsibility for companyreputation; and the businessservices director, who hasresponsibility for human resources,regularly attend meetingsrecognising the importance of settingtargets for the long term. One particulararea for sustained scrutiny throughthe corporate responsibility lenswill be the impact of the company’sinvestment programme on customerneeds and environmental goals. Furtherprogress on our corporate responsibilityprogramme will be reported periodicallyon our website.The CRC also looked closely at howacting responsibly impacts the waystakeholders, including customers, seethe company. We concluded that our CRprogramme is important in sustainingthe reputation of the company and helpsbuild trust and confidence over the longterm. As we begin the next five-yearinvestment period, the CRC will continueto examine the relevance and value ofour CR programme to United Utilities,its customers and shareholders.Dr Catherine BellChair of the corporate responsibilitycommittee• Senior operational managersattend the committee to reporton the environmental and socialimpact of major investmentprogrammes and projects• The corporate responsibilitycommittee has existed for overseven yearsQuick linksTerms of reference –corporate.unitedutilities.com/corporate-governance82