Barclays 2003 Annual Report Download - page 14

Corporate Social Responsibility
CSR in the Workplace
Barclays respects and values people from all backgrounds and is
committed to becoming a more inclusive organisation with a workforce
that reflects the markets we serve.
In 2003, Barclays introduced a new UK employee pension scheme called
afterwork. It replaced the existing Retirement Investment Scheme and
was designed to give members more certainty around the final value
of their pension. It requires employees to contribute 3% of their
monthly salary.
The Government introduced a number of rights for parents around
flexible working, which we extended to all our employees regardless
of whether they have children.
We continued to enhance access to learning for employees with the
opening of a fifth Barclays University (bu) metro centre and the third bu
learning point. More than 4,500 people applied for bu learning funding
of up to £150 to support career development.
The total spent on training fell to £30 million in 2003, down from
£42 million in 2002, reflecting savings from increased use of distance
learning and improved operational effectiveness.
The proportion of senior executives from an ethnic minority background
increased to 2.7% in 2003 (2002: 2.2%). We are on course to meet our
target of 3% by the end of 2005.
Barclays committed to double the representation of women in senior
positions from 11% in 2001 to 22% by the end of 2005 in the UK and
to 20% across our global operations by the end of 2006. These remain
challenging targets; we are making progress. In 2003, this proportion
increased to 13% but there remains much to do.
Health and Safety Challenge
An internal audit of health and safety was conducted. The findings
showed that the Group has a clear set of policies that meet legal
obligations on health and safety.
It also provided the opportunity to introduce a number of
enhancements:
• the development of a standard process across the Group to be certain
health and safety checks are made and compliance levels achieved;
• an agreement on the approach to health and safety in our non-UK
locations, through the People Risk Board Standard;
• increased rigour around project inception and management to ensure
the implications of health and safety are considered sufficiently;
• the delivery of further health and safety training across the Group; and
• the development of more accurate and accessible accident data.
Our internal auditors are satisfied with the actions taken during 2003.
The following table shows the number of accidents currently recorded in
respect of the stated years.
UK 2003 2002 2001
Total no. of accidents
(including near misses
and dangerous occurrences) 3,595 3,663 3,337
No. of reportable accidents 206 173 221
Our initiative to help employees in Barclays Africa cope with the issue of
HIV/AIDS was augmented by the addition of a dedicated resource to run
our HIV/AIDS management programme for our people and their families.
We currently provide anti-retroviral drugs to HIV positive employees and
up to three dependants in Botswana, Zambia, South Africa and Kenya.
Plans are in place to extend the programme to other countries in 2004.
CSR in the Community
In 2003, we contributed over £32 million to the communities in which
Barclays operates and supported over 20,000 employees in their
volunteering and fundraising activities.
We strive to recognise and reward our people who put something back
into the community through an internal awards scheme, the Chairman’s
awards for CSR, further underlining our wish to build a deeper
understanding of the CSR agenda among employees.
Our two-year Invest and Inspire programme designed to make the arts
more accessible was completed in 2003. More than 32,000 people
enjoyed free activities at the National Gallery’s ‘Titian After Dark’, event.
In 2003, we carried out substantial research among internal and external
stakeholders to review the positioning and funding of our sponsorship
activity. We established a desire to move in a new direction as far as
national sponsorship is concerned and we are working with an existing
partner, Groundwork, to design a new programme combining
community regeneration with sporting activity.
CSR in the Environment
We recognise that one of our most important contributions to society
comes through a responsible attitude to the environment. We have a
well established Environmental Management System in place, but we
realise that one of our most significant environmental impacts is
through our lending.
We have long recognised that, as a financial services organisation, we
have significant environmental impact through lending policies and
procedures, particularly for business customers. An Environmental Risk
Management Unit was set up in 1992 to develop and help implement
environmental risk lending policies and to provide specialist input to
lending proposals.
One of the areas where we can exert a positive environmental influence
is through our supply chain and by using our buying power.
In terms of indirect impacts, we continued to use an environmental
sourcing tool to ensure suppliers are evaluated on the basis of ethical
and environmental standards, this applies to the goods and services we
buy as well as the policies of the suppliers themselves.
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