National Grid 2008 Annual Report Download - page 605

BOWNE INTEGRATED TYPESETTING SYSTEM
CRC: 31595
Name: NATIONAL GRID
Date: 17-JUN-2008 03:10:51.35Operator: BNY99999TPhone: [phone]Site: BOWNE OF NEW YORK
Y59930.SUB, DocName: EX-15.1, Doc: 16, Page: 81
Description: EXHIBIT 15.1
0/4277.00.00.00Y59930BNY
[E/O] EDGAR 2 *Y59930/277/4*
BOWNE INTEGRATED TYPESETTING SYSTEM
CRC: 31595
Name: NATIONAL GRID
Date: 17-JUN-2008 03:10:51.35Operator: BNY99999TPhone: [phone]Site: BOWNE OF NEW YORK
Y59930.SUB, DocName: EX-15.1, Doc: 16, Page: 81 Description: EXHIBIT 15.1
0/4277.00.00.00Y59930BNY
[E/O] EDGAR 2 *Y59930/277/4*
Table of Contents
Annual Report and Accounts 2007/08
89
The Senior Independent Director is Ken Harvey. His
responsibilities include leading the Non-executive Directors’
annual consideration of the Chairman’s performance. He is
also available to shareholders in the event they feel it
inappropriate to communicate via the Chairman, the Chief
Executive or the Finance Director. No such requests were
received from shareholders during the year.
Director development
The Chairman, with the support of the Company Secretary &
General Counsel, is responsible for the induction of new
directors and ensuring that the existing Directors continually
update their skills, knowledge and familiarity with National
Grid and their roles as directors.
Upon appointment to the Board, new Non-executive
Directors receive a tailored induction programme including
the provision of recent Board materials and presentations,
one-to-one meetin
g
s with senior mana
g
ement and Executive
Directors, and a directors’ information pack to provide
background reference information on the Company’s
businesses and operations including issues relating to
corporate social responsibility.
Particular attention is given to current issues, emerging
developments and director effectiveness. This includes, for
Non-executive Directors:
For Executive Directors, development programmes include:
With the agreement of the Board, and as part of their
personal development, the Chief Executive, Steve Holliday,
is a Non-executive Director of Marks and Spencer Group plc
and Steve Lucas, Finance Director, is a Non-executive
Director of Compass Group plc. Upon appointment, Bob
Catell, Executive Director and Deputy Chairman, was a Non-
executive Director of Keyera Energy Management Ltd,
Sovereign Bancorp, Inc., Advisory Board and JP Morgan
Chase Inc., Metropolitan Advisory Board. The fees for these
positions are retained by the Director. Details are on page
104. The Company Secretary & General Counsel is a Non-
executive Director of Aga Rangemaster Group plc and the
fee is retained by her.
The services of the Company Secretary & General Counsel’s
department are available to the Directors and advice may
also be sou
g
ht from independent professional advisors at the
Company’s expense. During the year no independent
professional advice was requested by the Directors other
than that already provided to Committees by external
advisors such as the consultants to the Remuneration
Committee.
informing Directors at each Board meeting of the latest
training courses which may be of interest to them;
attendance at key site visits; and
management presentations.
internal and external mentorin
g
;
attendance at external courses and business
schools; and
experience of other boardrooms through non-
executive a
pp
ointments.
Performance evaluation
In each financial year since 2003/04, the Board has
undertaken a formal evaluation of its performance and that of
its Committees and individual Directors in order to review
past performance and to develop future performance.
The Chairman led the overall process of evaluation which
was, as in previous years, in the form of a confidential survey
completed by all Directors in relation to the Board and any
Committee of which they were a member, plus one-to-one
meetings between the Chairman and each Director.
Additionally, certain regular attendees at specific Committee
meetings were asked to complete surveys in relation to the
relevant Committee.
The Board considered the merit of using an external body to
manage the performance evaluation process. It concluded
that the current approach remained appropriate for the
Company. This is reviewed annually.
The Company Secretary & General Counsel collated the
evaluation results and these were considered. Overall the
results for the evaluation carried out in 2007/08 were positive
and indicated that the Board and Committees were effective
and that no major changes were required. The Chairman’s
performance was reviewed and his leadership and
performance were considered to have been of a high
standard.
Areas highlighted by the Board and Committees for
consideration following the latest review included:
In accordance with established practice, the Board and
Committees review these matters in a formal response and
action plan and will adopt new processes and procedures as
appropriate.
Following the 2006/07 evaluation process, a number of
actions were implemented during the year including:
a review of the rolling business agenda to include a
greater emphasis on strategic external factors such as
climate chan
g
e;
increasing the number of informal meetings of Board
members; and
consideration of the interaction between Committees.
informing Directors at each Board meeting of the latest
training courses which may be of interest to them;
providing a programme of shareholder communications in
a ‘Shareholder Issues’ update to the Board;
devoting additional time to long term succession plans;
in depth operational review sessions were held during the
year where more time was assigned for certain key areas;
producing more detailed guidance for Board and
Committee papers and presentations to ensure
information presented is clear and relevant; and
new sub-committees of the Executive Committee were
established to consider Social Policy and Global
Retirement Plans respectively.