Operating and Financial Review

That this House believes companies should report on their environmental and social impacts; notes that since 1997 Ministers have repeatedly encouraged such reports as a key plank of the Government's proposals for modernising company law; notes that the Prime Minister has made it clear that such reports should be produced, with a public challenge to all FTSE 350 companies in October 2000 (which over half of those companies failed to meet); and therefore believes that companies have had ample notice of the introduction of the mandatory Operating and Financial Review, scheduled for 1st January 2005, and that this implementation date should not be delayed because without a set of standardised non-financial indicators UK companies will continue to fail to identify, disclose and manage their social and environmental performance.