Directors' Report
Movement through Treasury of ordinary shares of 25p each for the year ended 31 December 2007
| Number of shares (millions) | Number as a % of issued share capital at 31.12.2007 | Aggregate nominal value £m |
Aggregate cost £m |
|
| Acquired by the Company and transferred into Treasury | 49.6 | 1.33% | 12.4 | 500.0 |
| Maximum held in Treasury at any time in the year | 12.4 | 0.33% | 3.1 | |
| Cancelled out of Treasury | 50.0 | 1.34% | 12.5 |
HBOS is recognised by Jobcentre Plus as a ‘two-tick’ employer, actively seeking applications for employment from disabled people and guaranteeing an interview where disabled applicants meet the essential criteria for the role being applied for. In the event of an existing colleague becoming disabled, HBOS works with external specialists to ensure that all possible reasonable adjustments are made to allow the colleague to continue in their existing role. If, after making all possible adjustments, a colleague is not able to continue in their current role, HBOS will look at suitable alternative roles within the Group and provide retraining accordingly. Training and career development opportunities are open to all colleagues including disabled colleagues and Group policies are designed with inclusion of disabled colleagues in mind.
Diversity and inclusion is an integral part of the business, with active commitment from the very top of the organisation. Andy Hornby, Chief Executive, chairs the Diversity Steering Group. Membership of the Steering Group is made up of a number of executives from across the HBOS Group and its key purpose is to provide strategic direction, challenge the Group’s businesses and remove barriers to progress in relation to the diversity strategy. HBOS has a clear plan of activity for the coming years and has a ‘Diversity Commitment’ which clearly sets out what colleagues can expect from HBOS.
Charitable and Political Donations
During the year the Group made charitable donations in the UK of £12.74m. The majority of donations were made to the HBOS Foundation, which provides grants to charities to fund initiatives primarily relating to financial literacy and money advice. In addition, all funds raised by colleagues, customers and shareholders for the Million £ Challenge were matched by the HBOS Foundation and went to the British Heart Foundation, WRVS and the Family Holiday Association in partnership with RNLI. In addition, a total of £933,559 has been made available to charities as a result of their affinity to the Visa Charity credit cards offered by the Group. The affinity cards are offered in partnership with specific charities such as Cancer Research UK, the RSPCA and the SSPCA.
It is HBOS policy not to make donations to political parties or incur political expenditure. However the law in this area is extremely broad in scope and could potentially capture legitimate business activities not in the ordinary sense considered to be political donations or political expenditure. To avoid inadvertent infringement, at last year’s AGM the Board obtained shareholders’ approval for the Company to make donations to EU Political Organisations and/or to incur EU Political Expenditure up to defined limits.
Between January and March 2007, one employee was seconded part-time for two days each week by HBOS plc to the Cross Party Group on the Scottish Economy (‘CPG’) in the Scottish Parliament.
The CPG is not a political party. However while an exemption exists for ‘all party’ groups composed of members of the Westminster Houses of Parliament, there is no such specific exemption in respect of the Scottish Parliament.
The Company is therefore disclosing a total amount of the donations made to the CPG during the last financial year of £2,226, representing the proportion of the employee’s salary paid by the Company during his secondment, not a cash donation. This secondment arrangement came to an end in March 2007.
Payment Policy
For the forthcoming period the Group’s policy for the payment of suppliers will be as follows:
- Payment terms will be agreed at the start of the relationship with the supplier and will only be changed by agreement;
- Standard payment terms to suppliers of goods and services will be 30 days from the date of a correct invoice that has been received for satisfactory goods or services which have been ordered and received unless other terms are agreed in a contract;
- Payment will be made in accordance with the agreed terms or in accordance with the law if no agreement has been made; and
- Suppliers will be advised without delay when an invoice is contested and disputes will be settled as quickly as possible.
HBOS plc complies with the Better Payment Practice Code. Information regarding this Code and its purpose can be obtained from the Better Payment Practice Group’s website at www.payontime.co.uk.
The Company’s main trading subsidiary undertaking, Bank of Scotland plc, had trade creditors outstanding at 31 December 2007 representing 20 days of purchases. The Company itself owed no amounts to trade creditors at 31 December 2007.