Reporting and regulation
Sustainability reporting enables organisations to demonstrate their impact on the economy, environment, and people. However, the landscape is rapidly evolving, with regulatory changes in multiple jurisdictions.
All companies and LLPs that have exceeded two of the three size criteria on their last two balance sheet dates will need to make twice annual reports via a government portal. No company will be required to report in their first year of trade. The thresholds are those of a ‘large’ company, these are:
For companies in a corporate group, a two-step test applies:
If the answer to both questions is yes, all group companies shall be required to publish their own reports. Parent companies cannot publish a collective group report.
Businesses in scope of the reporting requirement must prepare and publish information about their payment practices and performance in relation to qualifying contracts annually. The information for each reporting period must reflect the policies and practices which have applied during that period.
A qualifying contract is one which satisfies the following:
Financial services businesses are not excluded from this reporting; they will only report on contracts that do not relate to financial services such as office supplies.
Contracts “sufficiently linked” to the UK will be covered by the duty to report, it is likely that contracts with non-UK suppliers will require detailed consideration to evaluate the individual circumstances.
The BEIS has stated that the reporting consists of three different elements: narrative description, statistics, and tick-box statements. The BEIS operates a central online portal for the reporting.
For each reporting period and for qualifying contracts, businesses are required to report on the following:
Narrative descriptions:
Statistics on:
Statements regarding:
Reporting is due within 30 days of each six-month period and is aligned with the business’ financial reporting dates. We have outlined example reporting periods below.
Financial year end date | First reporting period | Deadline for publishing report |
30 April 2021 | 1 May – 31 October 2021 | 30 November 2021 |
31 December | 1 January – 30 June 2022 | 30 July 2022 |
31 March 2022 | 1 April – 30 September 2022 | 30 October 2022 |
Back to the main Sustainability Service page
If you would like to speak with a member of our Sustainability team, please contact us.
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