In the United Kingdom, the government has become a keen supporter of the development of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) because it believes CSR can help build a strong economy and a strong society. The UK Government has created a ministerial post to take forward its commitments to promoting CSR in Britain and internationally.

An increasing number of companies of all sizes are finding that there are real business benefits from being socially responsible. CSR has become a core issue for many large businesses. About 80% of FTSE-100 companies now provide information about their environmental performance, social impact, or both. And these trends are not confined to big business -a recent MORI survey of small and medium sized enterprises found that 61% were involved "a great deal" or "a fair amount" in the local community.

The role of the UK Government in CSR The UK Government plays an important role in encouraging and stimulating social and environmental involvement among the business community. It provides leadership by helping to achieve consensus about the overall vision for CSR and priorities for action. But the government also recognises the very diverse interests of the companies involved in CSR programmes. The government fosters a climate that encourages businesses to adopt best practice and removes barriers to community involvement.

The government is also actively involved in promoting CSR from within and is working to improve its own performance through its the Modernising Government Agenda. The government is undertaking a wide range of CSR-related work. An inter- departmental group recently conducted an audit of CSR activity across UK Government departments and the devolved administrations of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The audit identified over 60 CSR-related programmes. These, and the 40 related government web-sites, show how the UK Government is trying to join up CSR action across all levels of government. All this means that the government has to listen so that its approach is in tune with the efforts of the business community and the wider community. This is not happening by accident. There is a sound business case for social involvement.

The UK is fortunate to have excellent support organisations helping companies become involved. And the UK Government is assisting with relevant information on a wide range of issues, as well as through many other specific initiatives.

So what does the UK Government do? The Government helps promote and recognise business achievements in CSR. It supports partnership and business participation through co-funding projects, fiscal incentives for companies involved in CSR activities and brokering new partnership. UK Government business services provide helpful advice and show companies and other partners where to go for other resources.

The UK Government has:

• promoted the work of Business in the Community's Business Impact Task Force,
• sponsored Business in the Community's annual Business Awards for Excellence,
• promoted the Active Communities Challenge which was launched by the Prime Minister in March 2000 to encourage businesses to allow their employees time off work for community volunteering

Promoting Corporate Social Responsibilty Internationally:

At the end of last year the UK Government published its White Paper "Eliminating World Poverty: Making Globalisation Work for the Poor", and it is now working to provide better guidance to investors on development issues.

• The government is working closely with the World Bank in their Business Partners for Development project which seeks to demonstrate the advantages for companies and the poor of following good practice in developing countries.
• The government encourages the contribution of non-governmental organisations, with their experience of business impact on developing countries, to the formation of the government's CSR policy.
• The government founded and part-funded The Ethical Trading Initiative, an independent organisation working to encourage improved labour standards in business supply chains in developing countries.
• The UK Government is active through the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in addressing human rights issues, and has ratified all ILO core Conventions.
• The UK also has a central contact point to help promote the guidelines of the Organisation for Economic Development and Co-operation on the conduct of multinational enterprises.
• The UK helped to launch an intergovernmental network to share good practice and promote public-private partnerships, initially involving the UK, Denmark, the Netherlands, and the Republic of Ireland.
• The UK helped to launch the first European congress on CSR, marking the start of a new business-led initiative to promote greater business engagement in CSR across Europe.
• The UK has hosted a successful two-day US/UK seminar on CSR in London.