Ethics Policy Statement

We commit to:

• Always treating our members & customers fairly, by acting in good faith, seeking to avoid causing foreseeable harm, and ensuring they receive good outcomes
• Enabling and supporting our customers to pursue their financial objectives
• Ensuring the opinions and voice of our members are heard and are at the heart of all the decisions we make. We encourage members to share their views by voting on certain decisions that affect the way the Society is run at our Annual General Meeting (AGM)
• Communicating with our customers in an open, honest and timely manner, using plain language that is easy to understand
• Being transparent about fees and charges and keeping them at reasonable and fair levels
• Providing products and services based upon our customers identified needs, circumstances, and priorities
• Training our staff to identify customers who may be in a vulnerable situation and supporting these customers with additional care and sensitivity. Where it is appropriate to do so, this may involve providing additional assistance to ensure they have access to the level of information and support required and receive fair outcomes
• Handling personal and sensitive information appropriately and keeping it safe from accidental or intentional loss, disclosure or misuse
• Adopting a responsible approach to lending, enabling customers to only borrow what we assess they can afford
• Helping customers avoid financial problems and dealing sympathetically with those who need additional help
• Should customers wish to raise a complaint, our approach is to seek to resolve customer complaints at the first point of contact wherever possible and in a clear, fair and consistent manner
  

• We aspire to develop a diverse and inclusive workplace, reflecting values of fairness, equality, inclusion, compassion, and non-discrimination. Our staff should be – and feel – safe from harassment and bullying. They should feel free to discuss concerns internally with their line manager or externally to our Whistleblowing champion without fear of consequence
• We aim to offer a competitive level of pay and ensure all our employees are paid at or above the UK’s Real Living Wage
• We adhere to all UK employment law and regulation, including the Human Rights Act, Modern Slavery Act, and the Equality Act
• It is important that our staff work in a safe environment which is conducive to their physical and mental wellbeing. We have a Health and Safety Policy in place and adhere to the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 and other identified UK safety and fire regulations
• To ensure the knowledge of staff is maintained and to limit risks to our customers, all staff undertake a programme of annual training on key subjects, such as data security, financial crime, and protecting vulnerable customers

• Our policies and controls align all our activities with UK laws and regulations. We also formally monitor whether we are complying with these policies
  
• We have clear and transparent governance arrangements, with independent non-executive directors and a non-executive Chair of the Board. The Board undertakes a review of its performance, that of its Committees and individual directors on an annual basis
• We proactively communicate with our Regulators in an open and honest way to ensure that we maintain our excellent relationships with them and provide information which is timely and clear
• Anti-bribery & Corruption, along with the Society’s controls against Fraud, Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing, is covered in our Financial Crime Policy, which is fundamental to our business and to our core value of integrity. Staff are trained annually to ensure they are aware of their responsibilities and the ‘red flags’ they should identify
• We provide training to ensure our staff only sell products and services to those customers who have requested and have a need for them. The Society also has appropriate quality assurance processes to ensure good customer outcomes are achieved.
• We are committed to developing business relationships with high quality suppliers and partners who themselves are committed to operating under ethical and environmental standards equivalent to our own – including in the fair treatment of customers, employees, and other stakeholders
• We understand our responsibility to be respectful of our planet and seek to continuously reduce our environmental footprint. We comply with relevant legislation and are seeking to implement additional targets and monitoring procedures to address any significant environmental impacts that are identified and we offer products and services to proactively encourage “greener homes”
• We play an active part in our local community and participate in a range of charitable and voluntary activities which help to make a positive difference to the communities where our members and staff live and work