In the past few days Fabian Pattberg and then Mallen Baker reflected on the absence of a CSR/CR minister within the new Coalition administration. A few weeks ago I considered the extent to which Corporate Responsibility (CR) issues permeated through the Coalition Agreement.
Failure of CR minister to be watchdog, visionary or even advocate
I agree with Mallen’s assessment of the limited impact of the ministerial post as we moved through some 7 ministers in 10 years. As Mallen says Stephen Timms MP was the exception when he held the post and it shouldn’t be forgotten that the CR Academy Timms saw established was eventually taken over by Business in the Community (BITC). In my experience the interest in the CR minister role – and apparent status it provided the CR agenda in the UK – has always seemed greater from those overseas looking at UK CR from the outside, than here in the UK.
Yet politically, given the backdrop of financial crisis and now BP, it seems a particularly unfortunate time to see the complete demise of the role. Having said that it is difficult to construct a credible argument that the recent CR crises would have been prevented by a CR minister, however motivated, with the role as it was most recently conceived.
This failure of the CR minister to be the CR watchdog, visionary or even a recognised advocate provides interesting food for thought. The Conservatives particularly gave considerable time to considering the future of corporate responsibility in opposition. Yet the loss of the role will reduce the prospect of their ideas being implemented and a Corporate Responsibility centre of expertise and advocacy in government developing.
So perhaps Vince Cable’s starting point, as the minister responsible for this change, should be to consider whether post-holders were held back by the limited scope of the CR minister role, and the lack of a more holistic vision for how we shape a more responsible economy?
Delivering CR is not just about voluntary action
Mallen’s line that “CSR is voluntary” is an oxymoron. Certainly some CR/ CSR comes from a voluntary, self-regulatory approach, but a raft of responsible business behaviours are – and should continue to be – backed up by carefully written and considered legislation and regulation. For businesses of all sizes legal compliance remains no small challenge, and its effective delivery is also worthy of celebration and recognition (for example ‘Scores on the doors’ in the restaurant health and safety context).
‘CSR as voluntary action’ has of course long also been the mantra in much of the wider CR/CSR movement too. The lack of a more holistic approach to analysis of responsible business practice perhaps also stems from the flawedGovernment definition of Corporate Responsibility that also followed suit in emphasising the voluntary:“Specifically, we see CR as the voluntary actions that business can take, over and above compliance with minimum legal requirements.”
However if government – and the CR movement – looked more holistically and analytically at how responsible behaviours are brought about, we might better judge when either the regulatory or voluntary, self regulatory route is more appropriate in a specific context. This would make the Better Regulation agenda an explicit part of the CR brief, as well as the respective roles of competition and cooperation in the marketplace. Voluntary action often, although not always, requires some degree of co-operation between businesses.
Business and society might also see less regulation misapplied and the earlier identification of opportunities for proactive self-regulation if there was less thinking in silos.
Need for a new role with broader scope
To tackle this the new Government could introduce a post of ‘Responsible and sustainable economy minister’, probably still within the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) or perhaps in a more cross cutting function such as the Cabinet Office. Most posts are usually backed up by a Civil Service unit and are one hat amongst many worn by a minister. As Whitehall downsizes this new unit could emerge from the merger of existing units as BIS inevitably restructures. Last time I checked the CR unit was effectively about 1.5 Full Time Equivalents.
A new post – and with it a new definition of CR – should also make explicit the need for more shared learning to driving responsibility and sustainability across the public and private sectors, from the NHS Good Corporate Citizenprogramme to marketplace focused initiatives such as the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil.
From this breaking down of disciplinary silos I am hopeful that much needed leadership across Government about how we really go about shaping a new era in capitalism might emerge.