UK EITI Compliance subgroup meeting note, 16th January 2025

UK EITI subgroup meeting notes Mining & Quarrying / Oil & Gas

UK EITI Compliance subgroup meeting, Thursday 16th January 2025 

Attendees

John Bowater                          Mark Burnett                           Mike Earp                        

Martyn Gordon                        Leo Kellaway                          Helmi Ben Rhouma                      

Hedi Zaghouani                       Mike Nash (Chair)

Updates on agreed actions for requirements from December meeting

Agreed actions for 1.5a

To document how the MSG has taken gender considerations and inclusiveness into account a short survey of MSG representatives will be commissioned. Short, voluntary and anonymous gender survey circulated to the MSG on 15th January.

Agreed actions for 2.5c

Initial contact and discussions with Companies House regarding the possibility of expanding beneficial ownership disclosures. UK Secretariat to contact Companies House.

Agreed actions for 2.5c, 4.10a, 6.3a and 6.4a

Arrange a meeting in January with Mark Burnett to discuss this requirement in more detail. This meeting arranged with Mark Burnett. 

Agreed actions for 6.1c

UK EITI Reconciliation subgroup to decide whether to continue to include these payments within scope of UK EITI reporting for 2024. UK EITI Reconciliation subgroup to discuss at their meeting on 6th February 2025.

Agreed actions for 6.3a

Add a line that all employment within the extractives sector is private sector against each reference on the UK EITI website. UK Secretariat updated references on the UK EITI website to reflect this.

Agreed actions for 7.1a and 7.1b

Compile list UK EITI promotional activities since 2021 from the previous Annual Progress reports and circulate to the subgroup. UK Secretariat to compile at part of the process for competing the validation templates.

Discussions on specific requirements

Requirement 2.5c

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.

  • Currently CES don’t collect BO data and NSTA don’t collect when companies apply for licences.
  • The MSG has a role in looking at the comprehensiveness of BO disclosures and to identify any weaknesses or gaps.
  • It is not practical for the MSG to collect data. Consider if IA can work to identify gaps and weaknesses and draft findings paper for MSG.
  • Add specific actions and objectives to identify and gaps or weaknesses in BO disclosure to the UK EITI Workplan. (Action: UK EITI Secretariat & BDO).
  • UK Secretariat to contact Companies House to discuss regarding the possibility of expanding beneficial ownership disclosures. (Action: UK EITI Secretariat).
  • UK Secretariat to chase TCE regarding management of BO information for licences and contracts. (Action: UK EITI Secretariat).

Requirement 4.10a

ICs are required to disclose government policies and practices for monitoring oil, gas and mining project costs and managing revenue loss risks. This must include the disclosure of relevant laws, regulations and policies, as well as actions undertaken to monitor costs.

  • Add a high-level paper on current government practice and policy and summary of project costs, where available, to the UK EITI website. (Action: UK EITI Compliance subgroup).

Requirement 6.3a

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.

  • Much of this data is not available at the granularity required. Some may be available on statutory accounts for the larger companies.
  • BDO agreed to provide a paper that lists the data currently available. (Action: BDO).

Requirement 6.4a

ICs are required to disclose an overview of relevant legal provisions and administrative rules governing environmental and social impact management and monitoring in the extractive sector. This must include information on rules regarding environmental permits and licenses, including social, gender and environmental impact assessments, as well as rehabilitation, decommissioning and closure programmes. It must also include information on the roles and responsibilities of relevant government agencies in implementing the rules and regulations.

  • UK EITI Secretariat to re-circulate the paper documenting environmental and social impact of extractive activities across the UK extractive sector and chase any responses. (Action: UK EITI Secretariat).
  • Paper to be cleared by UK EITI Compliance subgroup and MSG and uploaded onto UK EITI website. (Action: UK EITI Secretariat).
Download UK EITI Compliance subgroup meeting note, 16th January 2025 asdocx

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