National Grid 2016 Annual Report Download - page 65

There are currently nine Committee members, with
Steve Holliday remaining a member of the Committee
until he leaves the Company in July 2016. As previously
announced, Nicola Shaw will become a member of the
Committee with effect from 1 July 2016, on joining the
Company as Executive Director, UK. The Committee
members have a broad range of skills and expertise,
which are updated through training and development.
Some members also hold external non-executive
directorships, giving them valuable board experience.
The Committee officially met 12 times this year, but the
members interact much more regularly. Those members
of the Committee who are not Directors regularly attend
Board and committee meetings for specific agenda items.
This means that knowledge is shared and all members are
kept up to date with business activities and developments.
Disclosure Committee
The role of the Disclosure Committee is to assist the
Chief Executive and the Finance Director in fulfilling their
responsibility for overseeing the accuracy and timeliness
of the disclosures made – whether in connection with our
presentations to analysts, financial reporting obligations,
or other material stock exchange announcements,
including the disclosure of price sensitive information.
This year the Committee met to consider the announcements
of the full- and half-year results and reported on relevant
matters to the Audit Committee. In doing so it spent time
considering the Company’s disclosure obligations relating
to the announcement of the proposed UK Gas Distribution
sale process and the expected impact this would have on
the Company’s growth rate.
The Committee also reports the results of its evaluation
of the effectiveness of the Company’s disclosure controls
to the Audit Committee.
The Committee is chaired by the Finance Director and
its members are the Group General Counsel & Company
Secretary, the Global Tax and Treasury Director, the Global
Financial Controller, the Director of Investor Relations, the
Head of Corporate Audit and the Deputy Group General
Counsel, with other attendees as appropriate.
Management committees
To help make sure we allocate time and expertise
appropriately, the Company has a number of management
committees, which include the Executive Committee,
Disclosure Committee, Investment Committee, Group
Ethics and Compliance Committee, Global Retirement
Plan Committee and Group Security, and Resilience
Committee. These committees provide reports, where
relevant, to the appointing committee in line with our
governance framework on the responsibilities they have
been delegated. See page 49 for management committee
reporting lines.
Executive Committee
Led by the Chief Executive, the Executive Committee
oversees the safety, operational and financial performance
of the Company. It is responsible for making day-to-day
management and operational decisions it considers
necessary to safeguard the interests of the Company
and to further the strategy, business objectives and targets
established by the Board. It approves expenditure and
other financial commitments within its authority levels and
discusses, formulates and approves proposals to be
considered by the Board.
The Committee in action – rate case filings
During the year, the Committee reviewed and discussed
our proposed rate case filings for both Massachusetts
electricity operations (MECO) and our downstate New
York gas companies (KEDNY/KEDLI). These filings aim
to increase our allowed revenue in line with increased
operating costs since base rates were reset after the last
full rate review for each company (2010 for MECO, 2008 for
KEDNY/KEDLI) and also to fund future investment needed
to meet our customers’ requirements and improve reliability.
A key focus of the Committee discussions was
on understanding the impact of the requested rate
increases on our customers, and considering stakeholder
perspectives. Following discussion, the proposals were
approved for filing at the October meeting for MECO
and at the January meeting for KEDNY/KEDLI.
Executive Committee
membership key
1 John Pettigrew
Chief Executive and
Committee chairman
2 Andrew Bonfield
Finance Director
3 Stephanie Hazell
Group Strategy
& Corporate
Development Director
4 Alison Kay Group
General Counsel &
Company Secretary
5 Richard Adduci
Chief Information Officer
6 George Mayhew
Group Corporate
Affairs Director
7 Dean Seavers
Executive Director, US
8 Mike Westcott
Group Human
Resources Director
9 Steve Holliday
Executive Director
1
4
7
2
5
8
3
6
9
63National Grid Annual Report and Accounts 2015/16
Corporate Governance
Management committees