2002 Corporate Social Responsibility Report Appendices

The Alliance & Leicester Group's vision is to deliver value to our shareholders by becoming the UK's most customer focused financial services organisation - bar none.

2. Our Customers & Our Reputation

Our reputation as a secure, customer focused financial services institution is based upon prudent management of our assets and the provision of a range of products and services which meet our customers' needs and offer value for money.
Earning and retaining the trust and confidence of our customers must be a high priority for us as we believe this is essential for providing and sustaining long term profitable relationships with them.
We aim to provide the highest standards of customer service treating each customer as an individual. Complaints will be resolved as expeditiously as possible and we will seek to learn from our mistakes.
The information we give to our customers should be in a clear and readily understandable form.
We will not risk the Group's reputation by knowingly associating with people or organisations or products or transactions which could potentially damage that reputation.
We are positive about complying with our legal and regulatory obligations - this protects our customers, our shareholders and ourselves.

3. Our Shareholders

Our single overriding objective for our shareholders is enhancement over time of the value of their stake in the Group.
If we do all we can to preserve and enhance the reputation of the Group our shareholders will in turn value their relationship with us.
We recognise the importance of safeguarding the assets of the Group.

4. Our Staff

We value our staff and will help them to maximise their potential by developing relevant knowledge and skills in order to support and promote the Group's performance.
Each member of staff has a personal responsibility to contribute to the Group's success and reputation by carrying out his or her job conscientiously, efficiently and honestly and maintaining the highest standards of integrity and personal conduct in all matters which affect the Group.
We aim to recruit the most appropriate person for each job and create an environment and remuneration policies that encourage and reward productivity, innovation and creativity.
e seek to provide a clean, healthy and safe working environment for our staff.
We seek to provide job satisfaction and equal opportunities for our staff and will not tolerate harassment, bullying, discrimination or victimisation at work.
Teamwork and shared values are vital and personal interests must never come before the interests of the Group and its customers.
Consistent with the highest standards of integrity we do not countenance the solicitation or acceptance of hospitality or gifts which may be mistaken for an inducement nor do we countenance use of information received in the course of our business dealings for personal gain.
We provide the means whereby staff can report any suspicions of wrongdoing to senior management or to our Internal Audit and Compliance Departments which have access to information and receive co-operation from our staff.

5. Other Business Relationships

We seek business relationships which :

support our standards of service quality and efficiency;
support our customer focused objectives; § support the profitable growth of our business;
support our business principles and our community involvement and environmental objectives
are mutually beneficial and lead to success through fair dealing and high standards of business integrity.

We will normally seek competitive proposals from suitable suppliers.

We do not knowingly do business with organisations or bodies which are involved in the abuse of human rights.

6. Our Relationships With The Community

We recognise our wider social responsibility in terms of the contribution we can make to the well being of the communities in which we operate. We seek to support those communities through the volunteering efforts of our staff and our charitable giving and sponsorship activities.
We do not make donations to political parties.

7. The Environment

We recognise that Alliance & Leicester has a responsibility to act in a way that respects the environment.
We will invest in environmentally friendly and sustainable products and services wherever it is practical to do so.
We will minimise energy usage, encourage energy efficiency and promote waste minimisation and environmentally friendly waste disposal.

8. Security

We remain constantly alert to the potential risks to the security of the Group's staff, its customers and its property and seek to ensure that standards of security are continuously reviewed.
We will take all appropriate steps to safeguard the Group's physical assets and to deter crime.

9. Maintaining Confidentiality

We attach great importance to safeguarding the confidentiality of data concerning the Group and its customers and other business relationships.
We never disclose information about the Group's customers to third parties without the customer's consent (unless there is a clear legal or regulatory obligation to do so).

10 Compliance With These Business Principles

These principles have been communicated to all employees and adherence will be monitored.

11. Extracts from the 2001 Annual Report & Accounts

Community and Environmental Report

The Group seeks to support the communities in which it operates through the involvement of its staff and its charitable donations policy. The Group also recognises that it has a responsibility to act in a way that respects the environment and invests in environmentally friendly and sustainable products and services wherever it is practical to do so.

Community Involvement

Responsibility for community affairs rests with the Director of Corporate Communications, who reports to the Group Chief Executive.

The Group aims to foster close ties with the communities in which it operates. It will continue to support and involve staff of the Alliance & Leicester Group in community related projects that contribute toward staff development needs and provide measurable benefit to the community. Central to this aim is the development of a volunteering programme that positively encourages links with outside "partner" organisations and facilitates a co-ordinated response by employees and outside "partners".

Alliance & Leicester have joined Business in the Community's 'Cares' initiative that aims to increase the quality and quantity of employee volunteering across the UK. The Group's two main centres of operation in Leicester and Bootle are a particular focus of activity. Group employees are participating in both Leicestershire Cares and Liverpool Cares initiatives, with an emphasis on education.

The Group has also been a main sponsor of the "Beating the Odds" Appeal which seeks to provide help and support to schools in the Leicester Education Action Zone.

The Group intends that its volunteering efforts will be developed further in 2002. Under a "matched donations" scheme the Group matches funds raised by staff for community related volunteering activities.

Charitable Donations

During 2001 the Group made donations for charitable purposes amounting to £314,000 including support for Business in the Community. The Group's Corporate Community Investment programme has given support to a number of organisations nationally and locally. That support has taken various forms including financial contributions, gifts in kind, management secondments and matching donations given by staff.

Environmental Policy

Responsibility for the Group's environmental policy rests with the Operations Director who reports to the Group Chief Executive.

Alliance & Leicester recognise that it has a responsibility to act in a way that respects the environment. Environmental best practice is, wherever reasonably practicable, incorporated into decision-making processes. The Group will invest in environmentally-friendly and sustainable products and services wherever it is practical to do so, minimise energy usage, encourage energy efficiency (and encourage staff to be environmentally-friendly) and promote waste minimisation and environmentally-friendly waste disposal.

Alliance & Leicester sets objectives aimed at evaluating and managing the Group's impact on the environment. The measurement of these is tracked through the Group's progress compared against the progress of its peers in the Business in the Environment Index of Corporate Environmental Engagement.

If you want to know more about Alliance & Leicester's Environmental policy, please go to http://www.alliance-leicester-group.co.uk/ and click on the Group Information page, from where the Environmental section can be found within the Governance & Policies link.

During 2002 we will be working on the production of the next version of our Environmental Update that was first published in 2000. We will continue to work on improving the monitoring and targeting of energy use. We will continue to collate information on how the Group's activities impact on the environment and the Group's environmental programme will be developed to ensure further improvements in performance, data availability, environmental management and reporting. Much of this will be addressed in the wider context of Corporate Social Responsibility.

12. Health and Safety Mission Statement

The Executive Directors of Alliance & Leicester plc accept their responsibilities under the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 for ensuring the Health & Safety of their employees and of any people entering our premises

It is the policy of the Alliance & Leicester Group to provide a safe and healthy working environment for our staff, our customers and our contractors.

We believe the provision of a safe and healthy working environment is a positive business investment and we will seek to achieve Health & Safety Excellence through statutory compliance.

To achieve our goal we have developed a formal Health & Safety Management System for application across the group.

Our Management System will ensure significant risks are identified, assessed and controlled through the provision of effective working standards for Health & Safety.

Implementation of our Health & Safety Management System is a line management responsibility and accountability will be fixed at every level.

Every member of staff across the group also has a personal responsibility to take reasonable precautions to ensure their own Health & Safety and that of others.

Health & Safety excellence will therefore be achieved through the collective responsibility and co-operation of our managers and staff.

We rank Health & Safety equally with other corporate objectives and we will routinely monitor and review our Health & Safety performance.

13. Alliance & Leicester Group Charities Policy

Aims

The Alliance & Leicester Group aims to act as a socially responsible employer and an influence for good in the communities in which it operates. To this end, our charitable work is focused primarily on those areas where the Group has the largest number of employees and customers, and on projects which will have a positive impact on our employees, our customers and their local communities.

Policy criteria

We will support community involvement and financial inclusion projects in line with the Group's desire to be a socially responsible employer, and an influence for good in the communities in which we operate.
We will assist with educational activities, notably those with an emphasis on financial literacy.
We will assist with projects which support families.

In applying these criteria:

We will support selected national charitable causes which are in line with our Group's aims, via charitable donations and community sponsorship activities. These are likely to include housing, education, families and financial exclusion as well as, on occasions, other projects which impact on the Group's customer or employee base.
We will consider sympathetically requests for our branches and cash handling services to be made available for collecting donations destined for national and regional appeals.
We will also match funds raised by staff on behalf of registered charities. Requests will, subject to budget availability, always be met by the Group provided they do not act against the interests of the Group and its customers or employees.
We will encourage volunteering efforts in the communities in which we operate, linking with organisations that promote "partnerships" between businesses and the community (e.g. Business in the Community and Cares Incorporated).

14. Extracts from Various Staff-Related Policies

Equal Opportunities

The Group is committed to the establishment of a competence and performance-based employment philosophy. The Group recognises the potential that all people bring to the workplace regardless of sex, race, ethnic or national origin, religious belief, marital status, disability or sexual orientation.

As part of that philosophy and in keeping with our values, the Group believes that every employee should be treated with the same respect and dignity. The Group positively encourages a culture that supports equality of opportunity.

Bullying

The Group recognises the right of every employee to be treated with respect and dignity and is committed to providing a working environment that is free from bullying.

The Group will not tolerate bullying in the workplace, either as a management style or between work colleagues, and will take disciplinary action against any employee who bullies others.

Harassment

The Group recognises the right of every employee to be treated with respect and dignity and is committed to providing a working environment that is free from harassment.

The Group will not tolerate harassment in the workplace and will take disciplinary action against any employee who harasses others.

Disciplinary

The success of the Group depends to a large extent on the ability of its employees to achieve and maintain acceptable standards. The Group therefore encourages employees to adopt a responsible attitude to work, encompassing self imposed discipline, to help it operate effectively.

The main aim of the Group's Discipline policy is to be corrective rather than punitive and it is in line with the ACAS Code of Practice on discipline at work. It sets reasonable standards of performance and behaviour and aims to ensure consistency and fairness of treatment of all employees when these standards are not met.

15. Our Environmental Strategy

Ten Core Objectives

We will incorporate environmental best practice where reasonably practicable into all decision making processes
We will invest in environmentally friendly and sustainable products and services wherever it is practical to do so
We will comply with Government legislation, keeping abreast of, and responding to new developments
We will encourage staff to be environmentally friendly and promote awareness to minimise the environmental impact of their activities
We will set clear objectives and targets and report on achievements § We will hold regular reviews of performance
We will maintain a position of trust amongst local communities in which we operate by demonstrating our commitment to a clean environment
We will endeavour to limit the impact of new developments to within reasonable tolerances
We will endeavour to minimise energy usage and encourage energy efficiency
We will endeavour to avoid unnecessary wastage and promote environmentally friendly waste disposal

This section provides information on:

Useful Links: