Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Policy

1. The Purpose of this Policy

As a supplier to the government MMP Consultancy understands the standards and behaviours expected from us. We are fully committed to conducting our business as ethically as possible, respecting the law, and going beyond what is deemed compulsory so that we positively affect society as a whole in all we do.

This policy is part of our Quality Assurance System. It outlines how we deliver on the promise of being good corporate citizens.

Our policy focuses on achieving economic, social and environmental benefits for all stakeholders. It is clustered around seven core areas where we believe we can achieve the most significant positive impacts and create value for all our stakeholders:

• Equality and accessibility
• Looking after our staff
• Human rights
• Environmental Sustainability
• Supply chain
• Community engagement and social value
• Value

We adhere to the UK Corporate Governance Code underpinned by robust processes. We actively seek to be good corporate citizens by upholding the values of this policy, taking into consideration social value legislation in delivering goods and services and supporting key government corporate social responsibility policy areas such as diversity and inclusion, sustainability, prompt payment, small and medium-sized enterprise engagement, the Armed Forces Covenant, apprenticeships, and skills development and addressing the gender pay gap.

2. Who We Are and What We Do

Established in 2013, our vision is to be the “go-to” recruitment consultants for the Public Sector and Not-For-Profit organisations across the UK. Now, MMP Consultancy is trusted by hundreds of employers and thousands of people as one of the UK’s leading recruiters.

Long-lasting relationships are at the forefront of everything we do. We pride ourselves on truly understanding the values that drive our client’s objectives and our candidates’ goals. This is how we provide the consistently high-quality service that is the foundation of our success.  And it’s this, along with our depth of market knowledge and insight, that allows us to react quickly, effectively and more personally to ensure your success.

Our dedicated team are all experts in their specialisms, so you can rest assured that you have the best people representing your organisation or that you are receiving the best advice when seeking a new challenge.

Our policy applies to our company. It applies to all employees and workers engaged by MMP Consultancy and all third parties engaged by and representing or acting on behalf of MMP Consultancy in whatever capacity.

3. Equality and Accessibility

Promoting equal opportunities is fundamental to the ambitions and ethos of MMP Consultancy. We welcome applications from those with as diverse a range of backgrounds as possible. All applicants are treated solely based on their abilities, and all recruitment, selection and training processes are free from discrimination on the grounds of the protected characteristics. When engaging with prospective applicants or their trade associations, we will always act ethically and abide by the relevant legislation, such as the Bribery Act 2010.

All staff receive training in the subject of equality and diversity to ensure they live by our values. Our fully trained and vetted staff will treat all persons encountered during their work respectfully.

Some public contracts deliver services to service users with particular needs, such as physical or mental disabilities, medical conditions or other factors that place them in a vulnerable position. We will ensure that these service users are treated courteously and that their dignity, safety, security, and well-being is always a priority concern.

Our employees, those of our key stakeholders, and service users have the right to respectful treatment. We will not tolerate discrimination, harassment or victimisation in the workplace or in connection with any services we provide. We expect our suppliers to offer the same commitment, including to their own employees. The Equality Act 2010 protects against discrimination, harassment and victimisation.

4. Looking After Our Staff

We are only as good as the people we employ. We aim to create a great place to work where everyone is treated with respect and fairness, feels valued and can flourish. The opportunities we offer our staff give them realistic scope to develop and progress.

The flexible nature of markets we serve means we can offer jobs and income security to those who might otherwise struggle to find work.

All our staff, including temporary workers receive an itemised and accurate payslip every time they are paid so that they can understand how their take-home pay is calculated.

We also provide every temporary worker with a handbook which includes a transparent breakdown and ‘one page’ information sheet of the job role, day one rights, 12 week rights, benefits, pay structures/models offered and a calculation of the take home pay that they can expect to be received prior to completion of registration and deployment within a job role.

We regularly review the ‘one page’ information sheet and staff handbook to update it, as necessary, on an annual basis or as changes to pay and/or benefits occur.

We will only provide temporary workers via payment methods that deduct PAYE tax and Class 1 ENIC in line with IR35/ITEPA legislation and HMRC requirements.

We will protect our employees with respect to health and safety and provide them with a safe place to work as far as it is reasonably practicable as outlined in our Health and Safety Policy.

We are commitment to paying staff the real Living Wage and continually educating our clients on the benefits as an employer to paying the real living wage.

Internally we offer our employees additional benefits which include healthcare and dental plans, pension scheme, training and development, employee assistance programmes.

We continue to ensure our employees are offered the benefit of a work life balance with flexible working and early finish on Fridays which in turn improves the environment we work in.

5. Human Rights

Our company is dedicated to protecting human rights and abiding by employment laws such as the Modern Slavery Act 2015.

We will ensure that our activities do not directly or indirectly violate human rights in countries where we operate.

During recruitment we look out for signs of labour exploitation and human trafficking, and we take action if we have any doubt. The checks we carry out as part of our recruitment process would uncover practices typically associated with modern slavery such as the retaining of passports.

Since victims of slavery are likely to come into contact with healthcare providers, our staff receive training in the subject of human rights and can identify the signs of trafficking and refer the case to organisations which can provide support.

Our staff also receive training in safeguarding to help them better respond to the risks related to health, wellbeing and human rights of children, young persons and adults at risk.

The greatest risk of slavery, child labour, human trafficking and inhumane treatment lies in the employment of suppliers and contractors by MMP Consultancy, where their work practices may be non-compliant. Therefore, we will only partner with reputable suppliers and not enter into a business relationship with unethical businesses or oppressive countries.

6. Environmental Sustainability

MMP is committed to developing a culture of environmental awareness and making ‘green’ attitudes an integral part of MMP’s ethos. As well as being a charity partner to The Woodland Trust, which is key to environmental and sustainable commitment, but the placements we make will directly contribute to additional trees planted within the UK.

We encourage all staff to adopt the same principles and reflect this in our approach to everyday work activities and our relationships with clients. We believe all companies should make every effort to search for sustainable and renewable resources for products and services and that we have an obligation towards future generations to prevent misuse and abuse wherever possible. We do this by:

• Responsible purchasing – assessing and encouraging suppliers to use recycled or renewable resources and actively seek eco‐friendly options, and by centrally managing and monitoring stock control.
• Managing energy – improving efficiency by monitoring and reducing consumption, avoiding excess waste and to conserve resources. For example, we encourage all staff to ensure that they turn off their computers at the end of each day.
• Managing waste – encouraging staff to reduce waste levels, re‐use and recycle materials whenever possible.
• Raising awareness of ‘green’ issues among staff, clients, and contractors.
• Encouraging staff to use public transport, car sharing, or other sustainable transport.
• Ensuring any marketing materials and products are made from recycled material.
• We are now offering electric company cars to all of the senior management team so far we have two who are now within the scheme.
• Offering Zoom or Teams meetings to our clients if this would be a preferable option to our clients
• Developing technology for customers and staff to reduce reliance on paper, for example, online applications have reduced the need for sending paper CV’s. Self‐billing for suppliers has reduced the need for paper invoices and we now use Electronic Timesheets, E-Ordering, E-Invoicing and E-Payslips to become a paperless office.
• Committed to a monthly donation to The Woodland Trust to plant trees, the donation is worked out on how many placements are made during the month.

As the pandemic changed the landscape of how business operate, MMP have implemented a flexible working arrangement this gives all employees the opportunity to work from home 1 day per week this reduces our carbon footprint by reducing our overall mileage by a minimum of 560.8 miles per week, nearly 30,000 miles per year and 7183 KG CO2 per year.

We constantly monitor the performance of our social and environmental initiatives to ensure that they are delivering the intended benefits.

7. Supply Chain

We aim to communicate with our suppliers in a fair and transparent way to establish mutually beneficial long-term relationships. We will remain in full compliance with the updated principles published in February 2017 on The Transparency of Suppliers and Government to the Public.  Where contractually required, we will provide full and prompt disclosure of accurate cost, revenue and margin information (Open Book Accounting and Open Book Contract Management) in line with published guidance and the terms of each contract. Suppliers should expect us to publish agreed key performance indicators and to conduct

Pursuant to this, MMP Consultancy will not engage in bribery or corruption in any form and has a zero-tolerance approach to breach whether it involves private individuals or public officials.

We work in partnership with our key suppliers and insist that they behave ethically and adhere to the same high standards of professional behaviour as we do.

Organisations that provide critical goods or services to MMP Consultancy are subject to appropriate due diligence. They are required to confirm they and their own supply chains are free from human trafficking and slavery.

We share this policy with our suppliers and expect them to communicate it to their employees and suppliers. We also encourage suppliers to develop their own CSR policies.

We have systems in place to ensure that organisations in our supply chain are paid on time. We will pay undisputed and valid invoices within 30 days. We operate a robust procedure for resolving disputed invoices promptly and effectively.

8. Community Engagement & Social Value

We work in collaboration with the Social Value Portal, on-line solution that allows us to measure and manage the contribution that our organisation and supply chain makes to society, according to the principles laid out within the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012. This allows us to report both non-financial and financial data for the work we do to contribute to our communities.

9. Value

We aspire to obtain value for every taxpayer pound and to be able to demonstrate that long-term value to the taxpayer. This means that our contracts are priced to offer sustainable value throughout their life, including when changes are needed. We work in good faith to resolve any disputes promptly and fairly during the life of a contract through good relationship management and, where appropriate, contractual dispute resolution mechanisms.

We use recognised industry practices in the delivery of recruitment services to, or on behalf of, all our contracting authorities.  We aim to continuously improve our services and bring innovation, ideas and expertise to help Contracting Authorities to address their strategic challenges and to support growth and prosperity in the UK.

10. Monitoring and Review

This policy is reviewed at least every 12 months or sooner if significant changes are made to ensure it is up to date with regulations and industry best practices.

Signed:

Director