Community, Governance, Reporting

The review of UK company law provides a welcome opportunity, albeit not immediately, to replace the wholly inadequate requirement to report the total of UK charitable donations with a more meaningful account of community involvement. Just how dire the current position is, is confirmed by the PIRC survey. Meanwhile The Body Shop Values Report shows what can be done, given time, resources and commitment, though the level of detail is so great as to be almost indigestible.

The Centre for Tomorrow's Company report is therefore a useful first step towards more broadly-based reporting and firmly establishes the principle that audiences other than shareholders need an annual account of the stewardship exercised by management. That more financial journalists accept the case for community involvement can only help to spread acceptance of this point.

What we lack is a check-list of the sort of community issues companies should be putting in the core annual report and the level of detail in a supplementary reports. A consistent approach will help understanding and spotlight the laggards. Here at Community Affairs Briefing we have a vested interest in better company reporting, so in future editions we will return to this issue with practical advice.

Corporate Citizenship Briefing, issue no: 39 - April, 1998