UK EITI Compliance subgroup meeting note, 12th June 2024

Mike Earp                          Nicola Garrod                   Helen Day

Hedi Zaghouani                Ben Hemi Rhouma              Mike Nash (Chair)

Plans for future meetings of the UK EITI Compliance subgroup

• Meetings have been arranged across the rest of the year for the subgroup.
• We plan to work on the “partly met” and “mostly met" requirements. These will be broken down into “bite size” chunks to discuss and agree actions at each meeting.

Discussions on partly and mostly met requirements

• The UK EITI Compliance subgroup discussed the following requirements and agreed some actions going forward.

Requirement 2.5c – mostly met

Implementing Countries (ICs) are required to request, and companies are required to publicly disclose, Beneficial Ownership (BO) information. This applies to corporate entity(ies) that apply for or hold a participating interest in an exploration or production oil, gas or mining license or contract and must include the identity(ies) of their beneficial owner(s); the level of ownership; and details about how ownership or control is exerted. The MSG must disclose any significant gaps or weaknesses in reporting on BO information, including any entities that failed to submit all or some BO information.

Agreed actions: 

• Mike Earp to check on behalf of the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) whether BO data is collected for all applicants.
• It was agreed that we also need to check the same with The Crown Estate and Crown Estate Scotland for mining and quarrying licences.
• Request further guidance from the EITI Secretariat. There are a lot of resources required to collect this data. Is it the responsibility of companies to disclose this data rather than the MSG?

Requirement 1.5b – partly met

The MSG is required to undertake an annual progress review of the WP, which should inform the subsequent WP. The progress review must include:

i. Progress and challenges in achieving WP objectives; changes in those objectives; and how implementation will be adapted to better achieve those objectives. 

ii. An overview of activities and outcomes achieved through EITI implementation.

iii. A description of the mechanisms for stakeholders to provide feedback on EITI implementation, as well as documentation of stakeholder views.

iv. Documentation on how the MSG has taken gender considerations and inclusiveness into account.

v. A report on actual expenses compared to the WP budget. 

Agreed actions:

• A review on progress of the Workplan to be included on agenda of a future MSG meeting.
• The Workplan is already available on the UK EITI website. Invite stakeholders to comment on the Workplan via a consultation period.
• Include a breakdown of gender of the MSG members in the Workplan.
• Include spend to date in budget section of the Workplan.

Requirement 1.5c – partly met

All work planning, monitoring and review activities must be informed by consultations with national stakeholders, and documented in formats that are publicly available. 

Agreed actions:

• Invite stakeholders to comment on the Workplan via a consultation period.
• Consider including all subgroup meeting notes on the UK EITI website.

Requirement 6.1c – partly met

The MSG is required to agree a procedure to address data quality and assurance of information on social and environmental expenditures, in accordance with Requirement 4.9.

Agreed action:

• We currently collect data on S.106 payments, but don’t reconcile.
• MSG need to discuss and agree a procedure to address data quality and assurance at a future MSG. BDO agreed to provide a short presentation/paper to inform discussions. 

Requirement 6.3a – partly met

ICs are required to disclose information about the contribution of the extractive industries to the economy for the fiscal year covered by EITI implementation. This must include, where available: 

iv. Employment in the public and private sectors of the extractive industries in absolute terms and as a percentage of the total employment. The information must be disaggregated by gender and occupational level, where available, and further disaggregated by company and project, as well as between local and foreign nationals. 

Agreed actions:

• Data on gender is already available on the UK EITI website.
• Mike Earp agreed to look at the ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) data to see if there is any further data publicly available to satisfy this requirement.