Our Management Framework
Our CSR programme is led by the CSR Steering Group, which reports directly to the Executive Management and plc Board. The Steering Group is chaired by the Group Commercial Director, Sid Barrie, who is responsible for CSR on both the Executive Management and plc Boards. The following are also members of the Steering Group: the Group Chief Executive, Director - Bus, UK, Ireland and Germany, and heads of each operating division.
The CSR Steering Group meets quarterly. It reviews and approves policy and strategy including our Climate Change Strategy. It monitors emerging policy and legislation relevant to FirstGroup, discusses how this will affect the business and ensures compliance. The Steering Group also sets objectives and targets and assesses progress in achieving them.
Led by the Divisional Board and supported by the management structure, individual divisions are responsible for implementing and monitoring targets, objectives and performance.
In North America a CSR Working Group reports to the CSR Steering Group at their quarterly meetings. The purpose of the North American CSR Working Group is to develop the North American CSR programme, taking into account the operational, legal and policy differences in the division.
We integrate the assessment of CSR risks into our risk and controls assessment processes and results are reviewed by our internal auditors. We include material risks (safety, customer, employee and environmental management) in this process. Details of our main risks can be found in the Corporate Governance section of our Annual Report.
Our internal audit function also makes an annual audit of the systems and processes, which generate our CSR data. A selected number of companies are audited each year: they report their findings to the CSR Steering Group and their activities are overseen by our external assurance providers.
Materiality
For the first time this year we have formally assessed the significance of particular CSR issues. The materiality assessment identifies the relative importance of CSR issues to the business and to external stakeholders. It also clarifies the varying impacts of these issues in the accounting, management and reporting processes.
The assessment began by identifying all the CSR issues relating to the business. These were then ranked according to their level of significance for the business and the importance that stakeholders attach to them. Four categories are used: Low, Medium, High and Very High. The findings are plotted on a materiality matrix.
The materiality assessment emphasises that our customers lie at the heart of our business and that their safety, security and satisfaction is of paramount importance. Our people are crucial to the delivery of customer satisfaction: employee engagement is therefore a priority. We also prioritise our long-term strategy on climate change and carbon reduction, reflecting our determination as a major emitter and public transport provider to be actively involved in carbon emissions reduction.