Barratt Developments PLC

The Board-level Sustainability Committee meets quarterly to review and approve the sustainability strategy and framework, including our Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) targets. The Sustainability Committee is chaired by the CEO and consists of 2 Non-Executive Directors; COO; Group Customer and Change Director; Group Sustainability Director (GSD) ; Company Secretary; and an Independent Expert Advisor. The Board has overall responsibility for our Building Sustainably framework, including our BNG targets, with delivery delegated to the Executive for management and to embed the required systems throughout the business. The Board reviews, agrees and receives regular performance progress updates on the Sustainability Framework and takes into account relevant environmental factors, such as flood risks, open spaces and preservation of wildlife, when approving any major land acquisitions. The BNG Steering Committee, sponsored by the CEO and COO, meets every two months. Members include the Group Design and Technical Director, Group Head of Biodiversity, GSD and Group Land and Planning Director. Objectives include focussing on risks, issues and planning milestones and key decisions for the Group's biodiversity strategy. It provides direction on the overall strategy and approach for BNG deliverables, oversight and monitoring, prioritising new initiatives and supporting the management of the project. The COO is accountable for the Group's operational activities regarding BNG in accordance with the overall strategy. Regional Managing Directors have regional geographical responsibility and report directly into the COO. Together they manage biodiversity related issues at the highest level of the organisation through to operational impacts across each of our developments. The CEO attends our Land and Development Leadership Group which reviews proposals for land purchases and may include issues relating to biodiversity, ecology and ecosystem protection. The Group Sustainability Director who sits on the Executive Committee (since Sept 2022) attends the ESG Data and Reporting Group which meets every two weeks. The Group reviews the progress of the implementation of reporting processes for sustainability data, including data used to monitor the Group's progress against our biodiversity net gain ambitions.

Engage with key stakeholders within government, regulators, businesses, trade bodies and academia to collaborate and to deliver an effective net zero carbon transition across the housebuilding sector. [...] This policy is reviewed annually and is approved by the Group Board. It is communicated to key stakeholders and is available on our website.

Describe the process(es) your organization has in place to ensure that your engagement activities are consistent with your overall climate change strategy[…]With oversight and support from the Board, the CEO and Executive Committee are accountable for ensuring that policy engagement aligns with the Groups climate change policy and Building Sustainably framework.
The Sustainability and Corporate Affairs (CA) team develop agreed policy priorities and engagement plans, which are reviewed annually but flexed and adjusted as the situation changes. These are disseminated to senior leaders via a quarterly Core Brief and other internal communications. Our Climate Change Policy provides a reference for our own position when engaging in activities that have potential to influence climate change policy. Good governance of our sustainability activities and connecting ESG value across our business leads to better long term decisions, which is why we established a Board level Sustainability Committee, chaired by our CEO and attended by Board members, and an ESG Data Steering Committee to oversee and scrutinise the development of robust controls, assurance and ensure transparency of our data.
We communicate to our employees on the importance of communicating externally with approved positions, and through official public and business relations channels. Activities that may influence policy are only conducted by company personnel who are aware of the group's overall climate change strategy, and who will uphold and adhere to it. These are employees at the most senior levels and will always engage with the Group Sustainability and CA team leaders before taking any action. Summaries of the issues addressed will be requested after the event to ensure all messaging was in line with the Group's policies and commitments. In the unlikely event that messaging was not consistent, a clarification and/or correction would be made to the relevant bodies and this would be made public if necessary. Sometimes carefully selected industry bodies, which we have joined such as the Home Builders Federation or UK Green Building Council may make a representation on behalf of their collective memberships. These bodies approach Barratt before making such representations to take on board our views and policies. In the unlikely event that our company view differs from the response of such organisations, we submit our own representation to clarify the company position. Engagement activity and outcomes are managed via shared calendars, engagement trackers and reported to the Board via the Sustainability (quarterly) and the CEO report (monthly).