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Corporate political engagement
We are committed to maintaining a high standard of corporate political engagement worldwide. We do this by assessing and making our policies, procedures and practice visible, with reference to Transparency International Guidance.
Our commitment is underscored by the development of this webpage, which will enable everyone to see, in one place, how we live up to our aspirations. Further details across the four key Transparency International areas of focus – Control environment, Political contributions, Responsible lobbying and Revolving door – are included below.
More information:
- Transparency International (Global)
- Transparency International (UK)
If you have any questions about our corporate political engagement, please send us an email.
The content of the Transparency International web pages (Global and UK) and corresponding documentation was reviewed and is up to date as of Thursday 01 November 2018 by the National Grid Corporate Affairs team.
We recognise that the control environment sets the tone for a company. This includes the integrity, ethical values and competence of employees, the philosophy and leadership style of management, the assignment of authority and responsibility for global political activities.
We have clear guiding principles underpinning our political activities, an integrated management approach and Board accountability and oversight. We can demonstrate that we manage activities on a group-wide basis and have management approval, monitoring and compliance processes in place to underpin this.
In this section we include:
Our guiding principles underpinning political activities
A public statement on political activities
A statement on our associated monitoring, management approval and assurance of political activity
Our Code of Ethical Business Conduct – with particular reference to pages 24-25
Anti Fraud and Bribery Practices Policy
The Audit Committee Terms of Reference – this body oversees our compliance on ethics and business conduct which includes lobbying. The internal audit and compliance teams monitor and reports to the Audit Committee, which in turn reports to the Board
Useful links:
Association of Professional Political Consultants (APPC) Code (UK)
The Bribery Act 2010 Guidance (Ministry of Justice [UK])
We have a clear policy of prohibiting political contributions; including by another entity on our behalf. The full policy is available below:
We are committed to lobbying responsibly. We are open and transparent about global lobbying activities and provide further details below:
Our policy on responsible lobbying
How we consult stakeholders about our political lobbying activities
Aims and overview of our Political lobbying
Report on contracted services of serving Politicians to the company
Register of organisations we are a member of that lobby on behalf of the company
Our policy on the movement of directors and employees between positions in public/private sector – this includes our guidance on 'cooling off' for staff joining from the private sector