Contents

1. Introduction
2. Introduction to CareTech
3. Taking care since 1993
4. This is what we are doing
5. CARE4 covers four key pillars of activity 
6. CEO’s Sustainability Manifesto 
7. CARE4 Planet 
8. CARE4 People 
9. CARE4 Community 
10. CARE4 Innovation 
11. Measuring our Impact
12. Ensuring Good Governance
13. WEF Core ESG Metrics

1. Introduction

Last year, we published our first Purpose Report setting out our bold and ambitious new CARE4 responsible business strategy. One year on, this Report sets out the progress we have made so far – both positive achievements and challenges we have faced - and the next steps on our journey.

This past year has been a pivotal one for CareTech with the company returning to private ownership to drive its next period of growth and innovation. The company’s commitment to responsible business and public reporting on its on its Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) commitments is undiminished; indeed, written in to the heart of the company’s new partnership agreement is its ESG Premium. This innovative financial instrument translates the company’s performance in respect of its ESG commitments in to a direct bottom line incentive. This underlines clearly that CareTech cares about how it generates long-term value for all rather than being driven by shortterm revenues.

Strategic oversight of our sustainability agenda is provided by our new ESG Committee, chaired by our Group Sustainability Director, Jonathan Freeman MBE, involving our Chairman, Chief Financial Officer and a representative from Three Hills. Jonathan also chairs our crossGroup CARE4 Leadership Group, comprising Workstream Leads from across the business to deliver the CARE4 strategy.

Our Purpose

Our vision is a world where there is equal opportunity for a life fully lived.

To play our part in this vision, we enable children, young people and adults with complex needs to make their own life choices, and to develop confidence and independence to live, learn, thrive and engage, building better futures.

We refer to this as providing Extraordinary Days, Every Day.

One year in to our CARE4 strategy, we are proud not just of the achievements we have delivered over the last twelve months but the manner in which the company’s people have embraced this agenda. Across the whole business, our people have demonstrated their personal commitment to this agenda and have challenged us to go further and faster. With the strong foundations of the CARE4 strategy and the commitment of our people, the next year promises to see some very exciting and profound developments.

World Economic Forum ESG Disclosure
G1 Governing purpose
G1.1 Setting Purpose

2. Introduction to CareTech

CareTech Group is a leading provider of healthcare, education, social care, training and technology innovations. For close to 30 years we have offered specialist, highquality services for children, young people and adults with complex needs in more than 550 locations in the UK and internationally.

Our portfolio of services, delivered by over 12,000 staff, supports a range of people with mental health needs, learning disabilities, autism, acquired brain injury, physical disabilities or other complex needs across hospitals, residential services, schools and foster care.

CareTech’s Smartbox solutions are pioneering innovative assistive technology, empowering communication and enabling enhanced levels of independence for service users. Through our subsidiaries Purple and EnableAll, we strive to create equality and challenge the narrative around disability and inclusion. CareTech is committed to a longterm, sustainable approach to business, underpinned by the CARE4 responsible business strategy comprised of four pillars: 

Planet

Innovation

People

Community

Our Divisions

Adults

Childrens

International
Services

Technology

Through our divisions, we have the expertise and strive to deliver Extraordinary Days, Every Day for adults, young people and children with:

Mental Health

Physical Disabilities

Learning Disability

Deafness

Aquired Brain Injury

Autism & Asperger
Syndrome

Palliative Care

 

3. Taking care since 1993

 

1993: CareTech founded

2003: 306 people supported

2009: 1430 people supported

2010: Acquisition - Branas Isaf

2011: Acquisition - TLC Wales

2012: 2166 children, young people and adults supported

2013: National Centre for Learning and Development

2015: Acquisition - Spark of Genius and DH Associates

2016: 2319 children, young people and adults supported

2017: Acquisition - Roc Northwest

2017: CareTech Foundation established

2018: Acquisition - The Cambian Group and Purple

2019: New launch - CareTech MENA

2020: Acquisition - Smartbox

2021: Acquisition - Rehavista (Technology)

2022: Acquisition - Wellness & Dmeto (MENA Region)

2022: CareTech bought back into private ownership

550 services through the UK and abroad

12,000 highly skilled staff

5,000 children, young people and adults

CARE4 is driven by our social impact and underpinned by our commitment to good governance.

This is what we are doing (and we do it well.)

Measuring our impact

We have defined and tested the appropriateness and relevance of our four Impact Goals – Live, Learn, Thrive and Engage - which enable us to collect data and measure the progress of children and adults in our care and, in doing so, our collective social impact.

Working in partnership

We work closely with the people we support, their families, commissioners, health partners and digital platform partners. It is particularly important to us to capture the voices of those we support and ensure they can Live, Learn, Thrive and Engage.

Valuing our people

We invest in our people and celebrate their diversity. Our learning and development support for all our staff is a matter of pride, underpinning our commitment to our staff and the quality of our services.

Investing in our local communities

We continue recruiting staff primarily from within the local communities where our services are based, in line with our commitment to boosting local employment, and reach out to ensure we play an active role in those communities.

Innovation and digital solutions

Our growing digitisation portfolio is already making a significant impact for people with Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) needs.

Caring for our planet

We aim to be a Net Zero business by 2050 and have commissioned leading sustainability experts to inform our decarbonisation strategy. We have already made important changes, such as our transition to a low carbon car fleet.

 

Our CARE4 Responsible Business Strategy guides us to create value for all stakeholders and ensures that we manage our business effectively, ethically and profitably. CARE4 is rooted in our corporate purpose to enable independence for those in our care and it extends to all aspects of our business.

It shows that the social purpose and moral values that run through the Group run deep and are the most important measure against which we judge long-term success. CARE4 is driven by our social impact and underpinned by our commitment to good governance.

CARE4 is our framework for transparency and ethical business as well as for our ESG (Environmental Social Governance) reporting. This Report includes our ESG disclosures, using the World Economic Forum’s ESG reporting framework.

CARE4 is informed by our materiality analysis and 29 years’ experience in the care sector. People are at the heart of our business and so people topics are our priority. We also recognise the urgency for action on
environmental issues, especially on climate change and we are committed to reducing our impact in the most material areas — specifically our carbon emissions and waste footprint. The chart on page 60 summarises our materiality analysis of key ESG issues, with more detailed commentary in the annex.

Last year, we published a bold set of headline commitments for each of the CARE4 workstreams. As we promised in last year’s Report, to support these headline commitments we have identified a set of ambitious supporting targets to galvanise our efforts. These new targets are set out in the following sections, along with a commentary of progress to date. Our sustainability journey is a longterm one and we recognise that we will not meet each target on that journey. For us, the direction of travel and building momentum to become a truly sustainable business is what matters most.

 

CARE4 covers four key pillars of activity

CARE4 Planet

We know that healthy lives go hand in hand with a healthy planet. We are committed to caring for the wellbeing of our planet to safeguard all our futures.

CARE4 People

Our business exists to facilitate better lives — for the people in our care and the people who work for us. We aim to be the sector’s best workforce and so we offer market-leading employment opportunity, creating better futures for our employees.

CARE4 Innovation

We believe that good business creates value for society as well as for those whom we care. Our innovative approaches will expand our business for a successful future, helping us to enable independence for more people, positively
impacting more lives.

CARE4 Community

Thriving communities are central to our success and we aim to be an active contributor in all the locations in which we operate. We also support the vital role of the wider social care sector through the CareTech Foundation.

 

CEO’s Sustainability Manifesto

Our core purpose is to build better futures and to enable children, young people and adults with complex needs to make their own life choices, and to develop confidence and independence to live, learn, thrive and engage.

To deliver our core purpose, I have established five key principles that together form my sustainability manifesto:

1. CareTech will always prioritise creating long-term social value over short-term financial gain.

2. CareTech will always put quality provision at the top of our priorities.

3. CareTech will always ensure that our commitments to the planet, our people and the communities in which we operate are at the heart of our corporate strategy.

4. CareTech will always seek to play a leadership role in the social care sector and contribute to its wider
development.

5. CareTech will always place a premium on honesty, transparency and integrity in the way we do business.

Haroon Sheikh
CEO

 

CARE4 Planet

We will be a Net Zero business by 2050.

Carbon

By 2025: 75% of (non-exempt) properties rated B and C or above for energy efficiency.

Waste

By 2025: 50% of our waste recycled.

By 2025: 5% reduction in volume of waste generated.

By 2050: Zero waste to landfill

Nature

By 2025: 50% of our gardens will promote biodiversity.

By 2030:100% reduction in volume of waste generated.

Resources

By 2023: Procurement Policy will include a sustainability requirement.

By 2025: 100% of centrally-procured resources will be from Policy-compliant suppliers.

 

Progress

A key priority this year has been commissioning leading sustainability consultants Avieco to undertake a detailed analysis of the company’s carbon emissions to inform our decarbonisation strategy. So far, Avieco has assessed the decarbonisation priorities in the company’s Scope 1 and 2 emissions.

CareTech’s limited carbon footprint is dominated by Scope 1 emissions, which account for 78% of our total, and are generated mainly from onsite combustion of fuel including natural gas, other fuels and the use of company cars. Emissions from purchased electricity in boarding schools, secure living units and domestic houses account for the majority of our Scope 2 emissions.

This baseline data has identified that our immediate priorities to address our carbon footprint related to Scope
1 and Scope 2 are:

• natural gas, which accounts for 39% of our Scope 1 and 2 carbon footprint
• our fleet, which accounts for 28% of our Scope 1 and 2 carbon footprint
• purchased electricity, which accounts for 22% of our Scope 1 and 2 carbon footprint
• other fuels, which accounts for 11% of our Scope 1 and 2 carbon footprint.

To date, CareTech has calculated its carbon footprint to align with Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR) reporting requirements, which measures Scope 1, 2 and limited scope 3 emissions. As set out in our ESG Disclosures, our SECR reporting for 2021/22 shows that, on a location basis, our emissions are 20,445 tCO2e, which is an average of 2.4 tCO2e per full-time equivalent (FTE) staff member. This is an increase of 9% from FY2020-21. This increase was driven by Scope 1 emissions, which saw an increase in fuel use at our properties. This increase is expected and reflects a return to normal operations after the COVID-19 pandemic and more accurate granular data being available in this reporting year. Better quality data has also been captured for refrigerants, where the number of top ups, indicating leaks, was captured in FY2021-22, increasing the accuracy of this footprint.

Electricity consumption has had a small rise in consumption this year, yet the decarbonisation of the UK grid has resulted in a decrease in location-based emissions overall. Conversely, marketbased emissions have increased due to the increase in carbon intensity of residual, non-renewable electricity in the UK market.

A key element of our carbon reduction strategy will be to improve the energy efficiency of our properties. We have set a target that by 2025, 100% of our (non-exempt) properties should be rated Band C or above for energy efficiency. This year, we have undertaken a comprehensive baselining exercise ensuring that Energy Performance Certificates are in place for all properties. We now know that, at the end of 2022, some 40% of our properties are at Band C or higher.

In line with the net zero criteria set by the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi), we are now working with Avieco to measure more fully the company’s Scope 3 emissions and will include these emissions in long-term science based targets. Once the full carbon footprint has been calculated, we will put in place a carbon reduction plan across all aspects of our operations by analysing emissions hotspots and key focus areas.

We are not, of course, waiting for this full strategy to be in place before taking action. Key actions undertaken
over the last year include:

• Commissioning of Energy Performance Certificates for our full portfolio of properties to identify the priorities for action in our ongoing rolling programme of improvements, such as boiler replacements. In the last year, for example, we increased the level of roof insulation at three sites in order to improve Energy Performance Ratings and reduce carbon emissions.

• Letting of a new contract for management of our service-based vehicle fleet, with a first and second wave of lower-carbon vehicles ordered. In the last year, we have replaced 180 older non-RDE2 compliant diesel lease and hire vehicles with new RDE2 compliant petrol and diesel vehicles. These changes have resulted in a small decrease in the company’s carbon emissions from its fleet this year. Due to global delays in new car production, progress in replacing older less efficient cars has been slower than we would have hoped, in particular for 9-seat vehicles.

• The company’s bike loan scheme has now been extended across all business units, providing interest free loans for staff to purchase bicycles.

• We launched our recycling campaign at the start of the year, starting with our Head Office, and have launched a company-wide survey to encourage recycling and to identify where we can improve our recycling rates.

• We have a new waste management contract which places a heavy emphasis on sustainable waste management practices.

• For the first time, our Blooming Marvellous garden competition included categories for wildlife gardens and fruit & vegetable gardens.

These developments follow a range of existing measures to reduce our carbon footprint across our operations. For example, we are proud that the data centre we use to underpin our IT services uses 100% renewable sources for its energy needs.

A significant development this year has been our new scheme to phase out all petrol company (P11d) cars. As of September 2022, building on last year’s ending of purchasing diesel company cars, we announced that we would no longer purchase any new petrol cars. The default option for all new company cars now are full EV vehicles and PHEV cars are only available in tightly-defined exceptional cases. We have also introduced a salary sacrifice scheme for staff who receive a Car Allowance benefit or a company car for EV vehicles. Already, staff are switching to EV vehicles through this exciting new scheme and we expect this to drive a significant growth in our EV fleet. This important development builds on the scheme already in place in our SmartBox business, which now has a 100% EV fleet.

A key element of the CARE4 responsible business strategy is our new Runway programme that uses the One Planet Living model to provide a framework for individual services across the company to plan their own contributions to our sustainability agenda. The Runway programme works with the One Planet Living framework for sustainability (developed by Bioregional) to enable teams in each of our services to develop a sustainability plan that is aligned to CARE4 targets. The programme enables locally-driven but consistent approach across the Group, providing a Group overview and a common language and approach for sustainability in the field. Runway is a five step, 12-week programme during which a service lead is coached and supported to develop a plan in collaboration with the service’s team and residents to create a shared action plan for more sustainable living. Collective ownership is essential to ensure that the team feels it is ‘their plan’ to activate. Programmes are well underway across a range of services in our Adults and Specialist Services Division and in our Children’s Division.

 

The CareTech Difference

Empowering powerful local change - Hill House School

The new Runway programme was piloted at Cambian’s Hill House School in Lymington. Thanks to the commitment of teachers, staff and students’ combined efforts using the programme to stimulate action across a wide range of areas, the school has been awarded an Eco-Schools Green Flag for their hard work and commitment to becoming more environmentally conscious. The Eco-Schools Green Flag is a coveted international accreditation that has recognised and rewarded young peoples’ environmental actions for over 25 years.

Hill House School has embraced numerous initiatives and programmes as part of its goal to be environmentally responsible. Students and staff have been actively taking part in the Great Big School Clean, learning about Fairtrade, organizing fundraising events, and contributing to local food banks among many other charitable and socially conscious acts. Hill House School has previously held a Green Dragons’ Den where teams of staff and students presented their ideas for eco-projects to the One Planet Living Committee, who then assessed viability.

We saved over £6k in food and catering costs over the year to date by reducing waste and their carbon footprint.

From big projects like planning a refill station/Eco-Cabin on-site and implementing a programme of recycling, reusing, and repurposing, to creating a culture of less waste and purchasing eco-friendly products like bamboo pens and toothbrushes, many good projects have started. Hill House School also achieved a £6k saving in food and catering costs over the year to date by reducing waste and their carbon footprint.

In addition, Hill House School has worked on improving biodiversity. Students and staff have installed bat boxes, bee houses, bug hotels, and a wonderful butterfly garden in their back garden along with a wide range of fruits and vegetables.

Hill House School also focuses on children’s mental health with their daily ‘mindfulness hour’ and regular
yoga sessions. Children regularly go on sensory walks, embracing and exploring their environment as well as growing herbs and vegetables as part of healthy living.

“What an amazing Eco-School you are! Congratulations to everyone for the great work you have managed to do, especially throughout the pandemic and lockdown. You should all be very proud of your amazing work. You are most definitely a worthy Eco-Schools with Distinction Green Flag Award winner!” - Eco-Schools assessor

 

The CareTech Difference

Building sustainability in from the start Bletchley Park School Cambian Bletchley Park School is an independent specialist school in Potterspury, near Milton Keynes, offering 38-week day placements for students aged 7-19 years with Autism Spectrum Disorder, communication difficulties, challenging behaviour and related conditions or diagnoses. The school consists of small class groups, creating a supportive and relaxing environment where students can learn and achieve their personal best.

Cambian Bletchley Park School has been built and designed based on many years’ experience of providing highly successful specialist education services. The environment at the school is structured, stable and secure, with well-planned timetables and routines aimed at reducing anxiety and confusion, whilst supporting decision making and awareness of potential risks and dangers.

In the design of the school, building in environmental sustainability was at the forefront of our thinking. Some of the main features of the sustainability design were a grey water system, a wild flower covered roof, low energy lighting throughout, solar panels, and heating controls and sensors to control energy usage. In addition, the
design included Swift nesting bricks, bat boxes, trees and landscaping, mitigation of landfill gas, travel plan, sustainability of building materials and a site waste management strategy.

 

Next steps

Completion of the analysis commissioned from Avieco is a key priority, enabling us to finalise what we expect to be an ambitious Carbon Reduction Strategy by which the company can deliver on its net zero target.

We will commission a survey of all of our properties to establish the viability of work-based EV charging points and installation, particularly in larger sites. We have also recently updated our Travel Policy to minimise travel and, where this is necessary, to encourage the use of public transport or car pooling. We will be working with staff to promote the new Policy and encourage the most sustainable travel options.

We are currently scoping out our electronic Care Planning system (Care Control) in supported living
services, which we are hoping will be implemented in early 2023 and will greatly reduce paper. In the next year, we are hoping that a further system will be introduced to cover our other services.

We will look to complete the implementation of the Runway programme across all business areas this year, ensuring that local CARE4 plans are in place in each service. A key element of this programme is the emphasis on staff teams and those in our care working together to take action about which they feel a clear sense of ownership. For our education services, the programme also provides an excellent opportunity to educate and empower young people on sustainability issues. We will complete updating of our Procurement Policy to ensure that it includes important ESG/sustainability criteria to ensure that these issues are embedded across all of our buying decisions.

World Economic Forum
ESG Disclosures
PL1.1, PL1.2, PL2.1, PL3.1
For full listing of WEF 21 Core ESG disclosures
and disclosure index see Appendix pages 64-86.

 

CARE4 People

We will be an employer of choice, investing in our people and valuing their diversity.

Recruitment & Retention

By 2023: Reduction in time to hire to 4 weeks

Retention rate increase of 8% year on year

Equality, Diversity & Inclusion

By 2023: Develop an EDI Strategy Framework to ensure inclusiveness and fairness in how we operate.

Talent Wellbeing Management

100% staff have access to statutory and mandatory training and certificated training and education.

By 2025:10% reduction in short/long-term absence.

Reward & Recognition

By 2023: Develop a Reward, Recognition and Engagement Strategy, building on existing initiatives

 

Progress

As has been increasingly recognised in public and political debate over the last year, the workforce challenges for the whole social care sector have now reached very significant levels. In October 2021, the Care Quality Commission reported that “the health and care system is gridlocked and unable to operate effectively” as a result of these challenges. They reported an estimated 165,000 vacancies across the social care sector. CareTech is not immune from these very significant challenges and this worrying backdrop reinforces our efforts to be an employer of choice, investing in and valuing all our people.

Over the last year, we have reduced the time to hire from seven weeks to five weeks. We are confident that we will hit our target to reduce this to four weeks by the end of the next reporting year. This has been driven by recruiting additional resources in our recruitment teams, including introducing the new Engagement Officer roles.

We have also invested in our Applicant Tracking System (ATS) digital recruitment tool, that provides a significantly more streamlined and efficient process for applicants and those involved in recruitment internally. The ATS system, which is now fully operational across all business units, also provides us with far more robust data around our people, supporting work around diversity and similar key people priorities. Over this year, we have also been consolidating all staff information from legacy systems in to our corporate iTrent HR digital system.

Once this transition is complete, as well as enabling us to have far more robust corporate HR-related data (such as for retention rates, absence rates, etc), staff will be able to access services digitally and directly. This will not only improve the service we provide to our people but will have significant benefits on eliminating paper-based services (such as online payslips), contributing to our CARE4 Planet objectives.

Valuing the full diversity of our staff remains a key priority. We have been developing a new Equity, Diversity
and Inclusion (EDI) Strategy, working with colleagues to ensure that this vital issue is addressed across
all elements of our business. We have also been preparing for reregistering as a Disability Confident employer, ensuring that we ‘walk the talk’ as a business on disability inclusion which, of course, our Purple business is a leading player in promoting.

Allied to our commitment to EDI, we have this year developed our Alternative Recruitment Pathways scheme. Working with a range of partners, we are seeking to develop recruitment pathways to social care careers for those under-represented in the sector but also those who face significant challenges in securing employment more generally.

The CareTech Difference

The CareTech secondment programme with the CareTech Foundation

In addition to its financial support of the CareTech Foundation, the company supports a secondment programme for staff from across the business to undertake a fully-paid secondment with the Foundation to support both the charity and their personal development. Sam Goodchild was one of the first secondees to the Foundation and describes his experience.

“After nearly 16 years working in education, including three and a half years with CareTech, I was looking for an opportunity to progress my career. The CareTech Secondment programme provided me with a fantastic opportunity to develop my leadership skills and experience at a strategic level, helping me to prepare for the next stage in my career. It also gave me the opportunity to gain a more in-depth, holistic aims on the company and the CareTech Foundation.

Learning about the company and visiting multiple CareTech sites helped me to feel part of a wider community than the small school where I teach. It also raised my awareness of opportunities available to staff and young people to develop their career or future career aspirations, such as the Foundation’s work with EY Foundation and the Prince’s Trust, in addition to the leadership training available through the CareTech’s own Leadership Academy.

The Health and Social Care Sector is a competitive market with high numbers of vacancies and high staff turnovers. This is a significant challenge for CareTech as an organisation. During my secondment, I produced a roadmap which aims to improved recruitment, career progression and quality of service, through mentoring and work experience opportunities. The roadmap also aims to improve staff awareness of and engagement with the CareTech Foundation, resulting in more staff accessing grants to support their local communities and
charitable causes, as well as grants to support them when they face personal financial difficulties.

A highlight of the secondment was attending a conference with Sense International, hosted by HRH Princess Anne, where I learnt how CareTech Foundation’s Partnership Grant was supporting people with deafblindness and their families around the world. This work is inspirational and made me feel proud to be a CareTech employee.

Taking part in the secondment programme helped me to achieve my ambition of securing a more senior position within the company. The leadership and management skills I developed, along with a better understanding of the company and wider industry, helped me to secure a Headteacher position at Hidelow Grange School. I am extremely grateful to the secondment programme for providing me with the platform to achieve this goal and would highly recommend it to my colleagues throughout CareTech."

Dotty Clarke’s leadership journey in CareTech

In 2021, we launched our new Management Development Programme covering the key leadership pillars of:

• Leading Self
• Leading Others
• Leading Collaboratively
• Leading for the Future

A key element of the programme is the opportunity for leaders from across all our divisions to work together, share stories, best practice and learn together. Building on the Management Development Programme, the Leaders Coaching Programme was developed to provide middle managers with coaching skills to support frontline leaders in their performance development. Together, the programmes are promoting changes in thinking around how leaders act and work, supporting our business values and changing the culture of leadership across the business from transactional to transformational.

Dotty Clarke is a home manager working for our RoC Northwest business in our Children & Young People Division. She has worked for the business for 6½ years, starting as a bank support worker. Dotty has progressed through leadership roles in RoC and was promoted to Home Manager in 2020. Dotty commenced her Level 5 Leadership Diploma in 2020 with CareTech’s DHA Associates and also benefited from CareTech’s Management Development and Leadership Coaching Programme, both of which she was able to use as evidence towards her Diploma.

Dotty completed her Diploma in August 2022 with a distinction. As a result of these fantastic achievements, Dotty won the Learner/Apprentice of the Year Award in the Children’s divisional awards.

“Hands down the best training I’ve done. It has really given me back my energy and refocused my drive. Every part of the training was valuable and I was able to put it into practice pretty much immediately for some parts and a longer-term plan for others.” - Management Development Programme participant

 

Next steps

Building on this year’s successes, we will continue to roll out the new Management Development Programme and Senior Leadership Programme across the Group. Given the significant challenges across the social care sector generally, we will add a new Recruitment & Retention module to the Management Development Programme this year. We will complete a new corporate Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) Strategy Framework. This will be supported by new EDI training that will be added to induction materials and HR
workshops. In a similar vein, following the introduction of new training programmes on the new Wellbeing & Mental Health training modules this year, we will continue to roll these out across the business for existing staff
as well as ensuring that all new staff complete this training as essential elements of their induction. We will also build on the successful pilot of our new Culture and Values model, expanding this across the Group.

The company continues to champion Apprenticeships and we will continue to grow the number of roles available across the business. We will also examine the opportunity for CareTech to be a provider of industry placements for T Level students, as part of our wider Young People Policy.

Recognising the imperative of widening our recruitment reach, we will seek to further develop our Alternative Recruitment Strategy, working a range of charity partners alongside the CareTech Foundation to five employment opportunities to individuals in under-represented communities. Complementing this, we will seek re-accreditation of CareTech as a Disability Confident employer. 

We will complete consolidation of our HR systems on to the iTrent digital platform, ensuring robust data management is in place. We will also add on the manager self service modules, improving further the quality of our HR management information and reducing reliance on paper-based systems.

Building on the new attendance management training programme that we launched this year and the planned enhancements to our iTrent system, we expect to see reductions in our absence rates over the next year and beyond.

World Economic Forum ESG Disclosures
PP1.1, PP1.2, PP1.3, PP1.4, PP2.1, PP3.1
For full listing of WEF 21 Core ESG disclosures and disclosure index see Appendix

 

CARE4 Community

We will donate 2.5% of our pre-tax profits to the CareTech Foundation annually.

CareTech Foundation

By 2025: The scale and impact of the Foundations work will have increased year on year.

Local Employment

By 2025: 70% of our site level employees live within 15 miles of their place of work.

Community Engagement

By 2023: 100% of services with engagement plan in place.

Local economy

By 2030: 50% of service expenditure spent locally and increase with SMEs (% TBC once baselined).

 

Progress

With the financial support of the company, the scale and impact of the CareTech Foundation’s work has increased across the year. The Foundation has directly supported over one and a half million people in its first four years of operation. As set out in the Foundation’s Impact Report, the Foundation’s work is increasingly delivering a positive difference to individuals’ lives. Like the 359 young people who now have employability skills and qualifications thanks to the partners the Foundation has supported, or the 173 people now employed in the health and social care sector. Or the almost 42,000 people in Pakistan who have been able to access mental health support.

The company’s staff engagement survey verified that there has been an 11% increase of awareness of the Foundation’s work across the business.

The Foundation has been supported by five secondees from the business across the year, which has enabled subject matter experts to drive projects forward as well as enhancing the skills development for the
individuals involved. In the last year, we have engaged with five new university partners to highlight the care sector as a career pathway and to support our recruitment strategy. Working in partnership with the Foundation’s charity partners, the company’s mentorship scheme has also strengthened across the year.

We believe that our target for 70% of site-level employees to live within 15 miles of their place of work is on track.

At year end, there were 11 mentors from across the business involved in various mentoring programmes and consideration is now being given to include mentoring as part of the CareTech Management Development Programme.

We continue to recruit staff primarily from within the local communities in which our services are based, in line with our commitment to boosting local employment. We believe that our target for 70% of site-level employees to live within 15 miles of their place of work is on track, and we will undertake a quantitative data exercise in early 2023 to improve our understanding. We are currently supporting an overseas recruitment strategy to fill 50% of our vacant positions from overseas recruitment; all those appointed will be accommodated within their respective local communities.

Over the last year, we have established a template community engagement plan for the business. Our target is for all services to have these engagement plans in place by October 2023 and we are currently on track to deliver this. Our staff are increasingly engaging with their local communities, supporting community fundraising
initiatives, promoting recruitment opportunities and acting as a ‘good neighbour’. Staff members are increasingly taking up the opportunity to nominate local projects for the CareTech Foundation’s Community Grants, with examples such as local hospices, youth groups and sports clubs.

A particular highlight this year was the significant progress that has been made with regard to the company’s engagement in the Care Home Open Week programme organised by the cross-sector Championing Social Care initiative. 68 CareTech services took part in the initiative, building from four services in 2021. A number of local leaders and celebrities commended the exceptional work taking place in our organisation during this week.

The Local Sourcing Policy, along with the Corporate Gifting and Merchandise Policy, have been established over the last year. Registered Managers have full autonomy of localised spending and SMEs have been added to our E-food contract to enable local purchasing. Purchasing adaptations have been made to ensure we are compliant with CARE4 Planet specifications.

Welcoming local communities in to our services through Care Home Open Week

We believe firmly that our care services should be at the heart of the local communities in which they are based. We are keen to showcase our capabilities and resilience, but most of all highlight the life changing impact that social care has on some of the most vulnerable people in our society. This year, we significantly increased our engagement in Care Home Open Week to enable us to welcome local communities and community leaders to learn more about our services, those we support – and our brilliant staff! Care Home Open Week is a national initiative organised by Championing Social Care, which this year ran from 27th June – 3rd July 2022.

Care Home Open Week is a brilliant opportunity for care homes to reach out, connect and celebrate the care delivered in social care with their local and wider community. One example of this year’s involvement was the visit by Mohammed Yasin MP and Councillor Colleen Atkin to Byron Court and Chaucer Court care homes in Bedford. These two homes provide residential care and support for people with learning disabilities. Mr Yasin and Cllr. Atkin met with the residents and support workers in the two homes. The residents shared their journeys and staff members discussed the challenges in the social care sector.

“It was a pleasure for me and Councillor Colleen Atkins to visit Byron Court and Chaucer Court care homes today. Thank you to the residents for taking the time to speak to us and to the staff who work so hard every day to support the residents. Care homes provide vital services and it’s important that we face the social care challenges that our society has now and in the future.” - Mohammed Yasin MP

Care Sector Fundraising Ball

Alongside the CareTech Foundation, CareTech was Headline Partner for the third year running of the Care Sector Fundraising Ball. Bringing together over 500 guests from across the sector, the Care Sector Fundraising Ball 2022 was held at the Grosvenor House Hotel, Park Lane in September 2022, raising pledges of over £400,000 for the Alzheimer’s Society and the Care Workers’ Charity – more than double the proceeds from the previous Ball.

Beyond the funds raised for these two excellent charities, the Ball was designed to be fully accessible for guests with disabilities and also the most sustainable event to date in the care sector.

Whilst every effort was made to eliminate the carbon impact of the event, the Ball team worked with Ecologi (www.ecologi.com) to offset any carbon that couldn’t be avoided. This will be achieved through support of a wind power project in Thailand and the Bahuaja Biodiversity Reserve in Peru. In addition, 550 trees will be
planted for each of the guests who attended the Ball in Uganda, Madagascar and Morocco!

Supporting our local schools

As a major employer, CareTech has recognised its commitment to supporting students at local schools by supporting staff members to volunteer as Enterprise Advisers through the national scheme overseen by the Careers and Enterprise Company. One of the first such volunteers was Jack Boland – Attraction Engagement Officer in our Resources team – who is an Enterprise Adviser at Mount Grace Academy, the local school at our Potters Bar head office.

As the school’s Enterprise Adviser, Jack works closely with the school to support the careers advice provided to students.

As well as working directly with the school staff on developing their general approach on careers advice to support, Jack has hosted a day of 1-2-1 interviews with students. These interviews revealed that students would benefit from greater insights and understandings of different employment sectors as well as interview technique support.

Jack has also provided careers advice presentations to students, explaining the various approaches to careers, the workplace and the work that students can be doing now to better themselves and make themselves more employable. Jack also discussed the benefits of volunteering, having a CV that is ‘ready to go’, goal planning, where to ask for advice and how to network.

“It feels great to be able to share my knowledge and shape the next generation of job seekers and higher education students, to ensure they have the right tools to achieve what they want.” - Jack Boland

 

Next steps

Key priorities for the year ahead will include continued roll-out of community engagement plans across the business, with all services expected to have plans in place by the end of 2022/23. We are confident that this will boost takeup of opportunities such as Care Home Open Week and increase the number of applications by staff to the CareTech Foundation for support of local community projects and causes.

Building on our strong support of Apprentices, we are targeting a further increase in the year ahead. We will continue to build on our university partnerships and will also build on the initial successful pilot of supporting local schools through the Enterprise Adviser scheme by recruiting more volunteers across the business.

We will seek to establish robust deadlines for our local sourcing targets and drive increases in local spend over the course of the year. With the new policies now in place, we will also be working across the business to ensure greater use of responsible and ethical suppliers across our value chain.

World Economic Forum ESG Disclosures
PR1.1, PR1.2, PR1.3 PR3.1
For full listing of WEF 21 Core ESG disclosures and disclosure index see Appendix.

 

CARE4 Innovation

By 2030, we will cumulatively reach 1 million disabled people and those with complex needs with an end-to-end pathway of digital services.

Digitised pathway of services

By 2025: The key building blocks for end-to-end pathway of services will be in place and we will have cumulatively reached 200,000 individuals.

Innovation in social care

By 2025: Purple Tuesday will be #1 global brand for improving the disabled customer experience

 

Progress

Our growing digitisation portfolio is making a significant impact. In 2021/22, through Smartbox alone we have supported approximately 19,957 individuals with Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) needs (through both software and hardware sales) and cumulatively since 2020/21 this number stands at 34,344 users.

With the launch of EnableAll, expected to be the most accessible online marketplace in 2023 we are aiming to reach 50,000 buyers and 1,000 merchants onto the platform.

We supported approximately 150 individuals across the Group through the 100 Voices Project (on which we reported last year) and the pilot at our Selwyn service with the RIX Centre, University of East London. Selwyn is an adults residential service in Gloucester which supports 34 individuals with complex needs include communication impairments.

This project was a 12-month pilot with the RIX Centre, affiliated with the University of East London, focusing on improving the lives of individuals with learning disabilities through the use of digital and multimedia technologies. Through training, support and implementation of the RIX tool, Selwyn has become virtually paper-free and has embraced the use of multi-media technology to capture pictures, videos, daily notes and key contacts. This pilot has also given staff members greater visibility of service user outcomes and improved quality ratings across the service.

We have supported 34,344 individuals with AAC needs.

The Purple Tuesday campaign has grown significantly in reach and impact over the last few years. In 2021, Purple Tuesday was trending number 2 on Twitter and reached over 5 million people across multiple social platforms.

The CareTech Digital Lab is now in place and two products ideas have been generated in less than six months. Both products ideas are currently at the proof of concept stage, with one shortly expected to go through user testing.

For 2022, Purple Tuesday also went global with events being held simultaneously on 1st November
in four continents, and the Purple Tuesday brand visible in the UK, UAE, USA and Pakistan. As a result, Purple’s reach will increase from the previous 5 million year to what we hope will be 20 million users. This will keep us on track to reach 50 million users via social media as our brand and visibility grows in each continent around the globe.

As part of our drive to digitise CareTech services, work is underway to pilot electronic care records and records management solutions. We are planning a range of solutions best suited to the business needs of different elements of our operations.

Smartbox Case Study: Cambian Hill House School

As part of the CareTech and Smartbox 100 Voices initiative, all students at Hill House School have access to the Smartbox Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) devices to help them to communicate and to promote independence. Smartbox assessed suitability for the technology alongside a Speech & Language therapist at Hill House School to ensure they receive the best AAC solutions for each student’s individual needs.

Staff were provided with device training and support and ongoing clinical support where needed to ensure the people receiving devices are supported throughout their AAC journey.

The portable Smartbox Talk Pad enables the young people at Hill House School to have a voice and to be able to make a range of choices and preferences throughout every aspect of their life, from choosing lunch in the school café to being able to communicate how they are feeling.

“Many of our children are non-verbal but have responded to a range of communication aids which shows us the potential voice that is there to be nurtured and listened to. We believe strongly in choice being the number one thing we can give our children, whether this is what to have for lunch or what to wear that day. However busy life is, we want to stop and listen to that voice. In the assessment process it was very clear to us that Smartbox is going to develop both the voices and choices of our children.” - Kate Landells, Principal of Hill House School

Smartbox Case Study: Phoebe, Hill House School

Cambian Hill House School student Phoebe was assessed for a Smartbox device in March 2021 as part of the 100 Voice Project. Phoebe was given a Talk Pad and started to use this in May 2021. Prior to using a Talk Pad or any form of high tech AAC, Phoebe would express herself by vocalising certain sounds and by using her non-verbal communication skills.

Phoebe also used a communication book, which she was excellent at using in order to express what she wanted to talk about. Phoebe learnt how to use her communication book very quickly and used it to ask her team lots of questions, typically about when she was doing her favourite activities and when she was next seeing her family. Phoebe’s communication book was a really good stepping stone for her before she transitioned to her Smartbox Talk Pad.

During Phoebe’s assessment, it was clear that she enjoyed touching the screen and listening to the device recite words. Phoebe took to her Talk Pad very quickly and enjoyed exploring her device. In the first few months of use, Phoebe was learning where all her favourite symbols were and the team were working out which Grid suited her best.

Phoebe loves swimming and she found all the symbols on her Talk Pad to communicate to her team that she wanted to go, including: swimming costume, water, drink, swimming pool, sea, bath, bus, tap and waterplay.

Phoebe really enjoys having a wider vocabulary at her fingertips to communicate with her team. She is now using her Talk Pad to share more feedback during her reviews; she has been expressing what subjects she likes and who she would like to talk to if she needs help. Phoebe is still learning how to navigate around her Talk Pad and needs guidance and modelling from her team to help her expand on what she is communicating about. There are times when Phoebe will go to her Talk Pad to communicate something and times where she enjoys sitting and exploring the Grids on her own. Phoebe really enjoys taking her Talk Pad with her around the school and also when she goes out. Phoebe’s Talk Pad has been with her to the park, the New Forest, the beach and to a Viking Village.

“It has been great to see how a Smartbox has had a positive impact on a student’s confidence communicating to unfamiliar adults throughout school as well as outside of school.” - Class Teacher View

Shifting the dial on disability inclusion with Purple Tuesday

Purple Tuesday is a global social movement, delivered by CareTech’s Purple business, to promote disability inclusion. Purple Tuesday is now the #1 brand for improving the customer experience for disabled people and their families 365 days a year. Purple Tuesday supports organisations to improve the customer experience for people with disabilities and their families. As an emerging global brand, Purple Tuesday provides advocacy and solutions to communities and countries committed to wider disability and inclusion strategy and practice.

Every Purple Tuesday organisation has to commit to making a minimum of one change to accessibility or practice which works 365 days a year.

Each November, Purple Tuesday hold a celebratory day to raise awareness, increase understanding and share good practice with organisations of all sizes and across all industries. Last year’s November celebratory day reached over 19 million impressions, involved over 7,000 social media conversations, and received over
270+ pieces of broadcast and print media. 15 industries were represented by a stellar group of Purple Tuesday Sector Partners, working together to influence changes in their sectors.

In December 2021, as part of Expo 2020 Dubai, Purple Tuesday was launched as a global initiative.

19m impressions over 270+ pieces of broadcast and print media

“Purple Tuesday is important to eBay because our purpose as a business is to create economic opportunity for all, and accessibility is a fundamental pillar of that. We’ve taken great strides over the past 10 years or so at eBay, but as technology and the needs of our customers change, so must we. There is always room for improvement and through partnering with Purple we’re committing to continually adapting and evolving our site as we progress on this journey with them. We know that small changes can make a world of difference to people with a disability who use our platform, and we would encourage any retailers with an online presence especially to do the same.” - Eve Williams, Chief Marketing Officer, eBay UK

 

Next steps

For the year ahead, our key priorities will be to continue the growth in our existing digital offerings, particularly
Smartbox, and to launch the EnableAll accessible online marketplace. It is our ambition that no individual within our care will be left without a voice and we are therefore looking to continue to support the rollout of technology to our service users who have communication impairments. We will look to spread the reach and impact of the Purple Tuesday campaign, particularly in the new participating countries and expand further internationally.

Having recently formed CTH-Digital Labs, our in-house innovation and product development unit focusing on technology to support people with disabilities, we are set to have two product ideas move to pre-production subject to satisfactory gateway reviews, towards the end of the year. We will progress the requirements for the introduction of new electronic care records and records management solutions in parts of the Group. These new systems are expected to improve efficiency and quality of our services and reduce reliance on paper-based systems.

World Economic Forum ESG Disclosures
PR2.1
For full listing of WEF 21 Core ESG disclosures and
disclosure index see Appendix.

 

Measuring Our Impact

Social Impact Headline Commitment

We will establish a robust set of Social Impact Indicators and
reporting methodology so that we can quantify and report
on the social impact of delivering our core purpose.

Progress

This year, we have reviewed a range
of potential frameworks with key
stakeholders by which to measure
and report against the social value our
business delivers. This exercise has
confirmed The National Social Value
Measurement Framework – or National
TOMs for short – as the framework of
choice. National TOMS is a method of
reporting and measuring social value
to a consistent standard. It provides a
clear link between an organisation’s
overarching strategy and vision to the
delivery of that vision. The Framework
was developed by Social Value Portal
and launched in 2017. We have reviewed
the key data points within the National
TOMS framework to select which are
most appropriate to our operations.

This review has enabled us to develop
a survey to gather information from
across our business and we are
commencing our first round of data
collection.

We have defined and tested the
appropriateness and relevance of our
four Impact Goals – Live, Learn, Thrive
and Engage, and are now concluding
the validation of discrete impact
indicators under each goal heading,
for each service across our adults and
children’s portfolios. These impact
indicators will enable us to collect data
and measure high-level progress of our
children and adults and in doing so, our
collective social impact.

 

 

The 3 stages to STEP

Sensory Supportive
Totally Inclusive
Enabling
Progressive

1. Stabilisation

Typically up to three
month timing, no
‘direct’ therapy, the
child familiarises
themselves with their
new home.

2. Strengthening

Focus on the child
learning new skills
and addressing their
individual needs.

3. Transition

When the child is
prepared to move on
to their next
placement.

The development of our four Impact
Goals aligns with our need to
measure the outcomes achieved by
all of our service users. A corporate
audit has been completed to
determine the current and committed
use of outcome frameworks across
all aspects of our portfolio. As a
result of this research, Outcomes
Star has been selected to be tested
within discrete services as part of a
pilot project to implement STEP, our
therapeutic framework. The Outcome
Star compliments the personcentred nature of STEP, providing
staff with a tool with which they can
evidence progress with the young
person taking an active role in this
assessment.

 

 

STEP defines:

a) the three-stage journey a young
person makes whilst they are in
our care

b) the characteristics of the
environment in which that care is
provided and

c) who does what to support the
child.

It is underpinned by measuring the
progress made and the outcomes
achieved.

The voice of our children and adults
A key ingredient for ensuring we have
the impact we strive for is to hear the
voice of those we care for. Mind of My
Own is an award-winning digital app
that helps children and young people
express themselves and communicate
with professionals, making sure
everyone is heard. Co-produced
with children and young people, the
app seeks to ensure that they are
easily understood and encourage
participation. Mind of My Own helps
young people to communicate what’s
important to them.

Over the last 18 months, we have
implemented Mind of My Own across
all relevant services and the platform
is now embedded and fast becoming
business as usual. Cumulatively, we
have received over 6,000 statements
from young people in our care
through the app. Over 1,300 children
and 1,700 key worker accounts
have now been established and 71%
of relevant business units are now
operational.

Over 6,000
statements from young
people in our care
through the app

“Within the Fostering Division, we use the Mind Of My Own app as an
effective way to ensure that we listen to the voice of our young people with
an aim to ensure that they achieve great outcomes and can have input to
what is going on in their day to day lives. It also helps us advocate on their
behalf. As an organisation, the feedback directly from children helps us to
improve and further develop our services based directly on what young
people tell us. We were working remotely with a child with autism who
refused to give his views for reviews for several years – it was very difficult
to get him to fill out paper forms or give verbal feedback. We introduced
the Mind Of My Own app to facilitate a conversation and he found it very
helpful. Thanks to the app, he was able to share his views on his plans for
care and education - for the first time in five years.”
Patricia Jarrett, Managing Director - Fostering

 

Next steps

With the selection of the National
TOMs framework for Social Value and
the validation of our Social Impact
measurements, we will now be
undertaking our first data collection
exercise to support annual reporting.
We expect our first annual social
impact and social value reporting to
be included in next year’s Purpose
Report.

Our STEP therapeutic framework pilot
covering phase 1 sites will run until
spring 2023 following which we will
look to roll-out the learning more
widely.

Now that Mind of My Own for our
Children’s Division has transitioned to
business as usual, a priority for 2023
will be to identify and implement a
parallel solution to enable us to hear
the voices of those for whom we
care for in our Adults and Specialist
Services Division.

Phase 1
sites will run until spring 2023
following which we will look to
roll-out the learning more widely.

 

Ensuring Good Governance

Governance Headline Commitment

We will create a Staff Consultative Committee to ensure that
the voices of our staff are at the heart of our business.

 

Progress

Our commitment to good
governance remains as strong as
ever. Following the de-listing of
the business, we have been putting
in place new Board and Executive
governance arrangements,
including a refreshed Care Quality
& Governance Committee.
The Committee now meets
with greater frequency and has
enhanced executive membership
and leadership. A clearer strategy
and policy focus is in place and all
members have clarity on corporate
accountability. Safeguarding
has also been given enhanced
leadership, reflecting the critical
importance of this issue to all areas
of our business.

We have now achieved our
Headline Commitment of creating
a Staff Consultative Committee.
This cross-Group forum has met
regularly across the last year and
is providing a powerful voice by
which to ensure that our staff are
engaged in key strategic issues
and able to contribute to such
discussions, ensuring that the
invaluable perspectives of those
at the forefront of delivering our
services are properly reflected in
our decision-making.

Quality ratings remain core to all
of our work. Board strategic risk
themes are now used to report
progress against quality targets
and Group ‘quality hurdles’ that
measure performance against
market and sector benchmarks.
We were pleased to achieve
these ‘quality hurdles’ set for the
Group this year, resulting in a
consistent performance on the
percentage of services rating Good
or Outstanding. As a whole, the
business remains in the national
upper quartile of quality ratings.
Over the past year, we have been
introducing DyLOS (our Dynamic
Line of Sight) system to ensure that
we monitor and manage risk across
every service to better improve
the quality of care and education
provided at site.

For our Children’s Services, we
have an innovative and challenging
partnership with NYAS to provide
independent visits (including
Regulation 44) to monitor the
quality of our care and engage
with children to seek their views
and experiences. We have also
implemented Mind of My Own,
an app that enables children and
young people to express how they
feel and seek support when they
need it. We have also implemented
a new Management Information
System across our schools –
Behaviour Watch – which will
improve our ability to record and
monitor behaviour management
and safeguarding.
We have now put in place a new
Clinical Governance Framework
to inform the approach that is
being overseen by our new Medical
Director, Dr Vishelle Kamath.

We also introduced a new ‘Brilliant
Basics’ programme for our
Specialist Service Division, setting
internal standards for the quality of
clinical services.
We were pleased to participate
in the corporate registration pilot
with the Care Quality Commission
and to participate in using a new
methodology for social care
registered services that places
the voice of staff, people living in
services and their families at the
heart of the key lines of enquiry for
the regulator. Learning from the
pilots has been used to support the
internal programme of service user
engagement and co-production for
our Adult Services Division.
Corporate KPIs are regularly
reviewed and a composite
scorecard has been developed that
provides a clear line of sight for
the management chain across the
Group. Our Executive sponsorship programme for corporate priorities
has been communicated and rolled
out across the organisation.
This year, we also reviewed and
revised all Board and Board
committee reporting arrangements
to provide a clearer line of sight
across the business. We agreed
commitments for a minimum
number of frontline visits to take
place by members of the Senior
Leadership Team, to ensure that our
senior leaders are both more visible
to frontline staff and have a close
understanding of local issues.
The internal preparations for a
‘Well-led’ review have continued
with enhanced governance
arrangements in place for divisions
and a template for evidence
gathering piloted in Adult Services
that sets a ‘floor to board’
framework for leadership, risk and
accountability.

Next steps

Key priorities for the year ahead will be to
embed the new arrangements introduced
over the past year, particularly the important
role of the Care Quality & Governance
Committee in driving quality improvements
across all aspects of our services.

World Economic Forum ESG Disclosures
G2.1, G3.1, G4.1, G4.2, G5.1
For full listing of WEF 21 Core ESG disclosures and disclosure index see Appendix.

 

WEF Core ESG Metrics
Disclosures FY2021/22
CareTech Materiality Analysis — World Economic Forum Core 21 Topic

 

WEF Core ESG Metrics
Disclosures FY2021/22

G1.1 Setting purpose

 

Group Level
CareTech’s purpose is inherent in all that we do. We enable children, young people
and adults with complex needs to make their own life choices, and to develop
confidence and independence to live, learn, thrive and engage, building better futures.
We refer to this as providing Extraordinary Days, Every Day.

 

G2.1 Setting purpose

Group Level
The CareTech plc Board comprised seven Directors (of which three were NonExecutive) committed to the highest level of corporate governance, supporting
management while ensuring an appropriate level of challenge, and exercising
proper oversight while facilitating decision making.
The Board was assisted by three committees: the Care Quality & Governance
Committee; the Audit Committee; and, the Remuneration Committee.
The Board met all of the ‘Fit and Proper Person’ requirements of the Health and
Social Care Act. Of the Non-Executive Directors, one identified as female and two
identified as men.
The composition of the Board changed on 28th September 2022 with the de-listing
of the company.

Materiality Commentary

All of our stakeholders value our purpose-led
culture; it is a unique aspect of CareTech culture
that differentiates our service and unites us
behind a shared intent to deliver the very best
that we can for all those in our care.

Materiality Commentary

The composition of our governing body is of
importance to all stakeholders, in particular the
investment community and our regulators. To
protect the integrity, expertise, professionalism
and success of our business, we are focused
on ensuring that our Board not only meets
the statutory requirements but is equipped to
deliver the financial and quality performance
standards that we are committed to meeting.

 

WEF Core ESG Metrics
Disclosures FY2021/22

G3.1 Material issues impacting stakeholders

Group Level
CARE4 is constructed to address the sustainability issues that we have identified
as material to our business; these are drawn from the WEF ESG framework.
We consulted with shareholders on a formal basis twice a year and on an ad hoc
basis throughout the year to identify priorities.
In response to requests from staff in 2020, we launched a new Staff Consultative
Committee in 2021 and repeated our annual staff survey to facilitate engagement
and feedback.
We regularly receive feedback from our commissioning and regulatory bodies.
We are currently exploring digital tools that will enable us to engage better with
the diverse individuals in our care across multiple locations.

Materiality Commentary

Understanding the material ESG issues that
affect the success of CareTech is foundational
to business success. We recognise the
importance of this to our stakeholders and
are committed to stakeholder consultation to
ensure that we align business strategy to their
priorities

WEF Core ESG Metrics
Disclosures FY2021/22

G4.1 Anti-corruption

Group Level
Core staff induction training covers awareness training regarding fraud, bribery and
corruption. Where appropriate to role, employees receive additional training on the
organisation’s anti-corruption policies and procedures. In the past year, 33% of Board
members received bespoke briefing on these issues.
No incidents of corruption related to previous years were confirmed during this reporting
year. 10 potential incidents of corruption were investigated and confirmed during
the current year, related to this year, of which three (3) related to attempted fraud of
corporate systems (payroll and invoice payments) and seven (7) related to services (stolen
debit/credit cards, unauthorised transactions, card cloned and money taken).
A significant exercise was undertaken as part of the due diligence related to the
acquisition of the company to review historic whistleblowing, complaints or allegations.
A corporate register of interests was introduced this year. All Executive and Board
members are required to self-declare under the ‘Fit and Proper Persons’ requirements
of the Health and Social Care Act. A wider Board awareness programme is under
development.

Materiality Commentary

Ethical behaviour is of significant importance
to all stakeholders. As such, it is inherent in
our culture and processes and we believe that
due to our culture and track record, the risk of
corruption in services is low. Therefore, this is
an issue of mid-level importance to business
success and we see it as low risk.

WEF Core ESG Metrics
Disclosures FY2021/22

G4.2 Protected ethics advice and reporting mechanisms

Group Level
The Board has established a framework of formal sub-committees for Information
Governance, Clinical Governance and safeguarding. Sub-committees have Executive
sponsorship and an assurance report updating on the business of each sub-committee
is reviewed monthly.

An internal advice and escalation programme is established, including the procurement
of independent advice on matters of policy, legislation or ethics.

Due diligence and enhanced declarations of interest process are introduced and in
key areas of the business external accreditation systems are in place – for example
cyber-security, and health and safety where we were awarded CHAS (Contractors H&S
Assessment Scheme) accreditation.
In this reporting period, we have appointed a Medical Director (Responsible Clinician)
and introduced new policies and procedures related to Duty of Care, mortality reviews
and the Use of Force Act.

Materiality Commentary

Our success is dependent upon the positive
impact that we have for individuals in our care.
A focus on ethics and efficacy is, therefore,
of primary importance and is inherent in our
processes and culture.

This is an essential aspect of our approach for
all stakeholders, in particular for our service
users and their families, and the people who
work for us and, of course, to commissioners
and regulators.

 

WEF Core ESG Metrics
Disclosures FY2021/22

G5.1 Integrating risk and opportunity into business process

Group Level
A full review of our risk and governance framework has informed the publication of a
governance handbook for our Adults Division.

Work in the previous business year to enhance the business continuity process and
service risk assessments continues to improve responsiveness to incidents; for example,
our hospital services’ ability to mitigate risks arising from the national outage of ‘carenotes’.

A full review and business case was developed and agreed to bring Health & Safety
services in-house; this review identified significant opportunities to improve the quality
and effectiveness of risks arising from our responsibilities under the Health & Safety At
Work Act.
Risk Registers have been standardised and will be further refined to reflect the different
service offerings and risk appetite across the Group portfolio.
Through the due diligence for the purchase of the company, the corporate categories of
risk identified in the FY20-21 report were all reviewed and an Executive sponsor assigned
to lead effective risk oversight and mitigation of corporate risk.

Materiality Commentary

As a regulated business, management of risk
is central to our approach and our ‘licence to
operate’.

Our risk profile is of significant importance to
financial and commercial partners as well as our
ability to capitalise on opportunities arising.

As a care and education provider, we have a
long-term business model and effective risk
management is essential to protect continuity
for those in our care.

WEF Core ESG Metrics
Disclosures FY2021/22

PL1.1 Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions

All CareTech Group UK companies.

We have continued to calculate our environmental impact across the required scope 1,2
and 3 (selected categories) emission sources as part of our annual SECR reporting.
On a location basis our emissions are 20,445 tCO2e, which is an average of 2.4 tCO2e
per FTE, and an increase of 9% from FY2020-21. This increase was driven by scope 1,
which saw an increase in fuel use at CareTech sites. This increase is expected and reflects
a return to normal operations after the COVID-19 pandemic and more accurate granular
data being available in this reporting year. Better quality data has also been captured for
refrigerants, where the number of top ups, indicating leaks, was captured in FY2021-22,
increasing the accuracy of this footprint.
Electricity consumption has had a small rise in consumption this year, yet the
decarbonisation of the UK grid has resulted in a decrease in location-based emissions
overall. Conversely, market-based emissions have increased due to the increase in carbon
intensity of residual, non-renewable, electricity in the UK market.
We have calculated emission intensity metrics on a per FTE basis, which we will monitor
to track performance in our subsequent environmental disclosures

Materiality Commentary

GHG emissions had not been an issue of
strategic importance to CareTech. However,
with increasing focus on the climate emergency
from all stakeholders as well as approaching
legislation and regulation, this issue is now fully
recognised as one of increasing strategic risk to
the long-term future of the business and is now
being addressed over the short- to mediumterm accordingly.

WEF Core ESG Metrics
Disclosures FY2021/22

PL1.2 TCFD implementation

All CareTech Group UK companies.

CareTech has a commitment to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. We are currently
developing TCFD-aligned targets and a roadmap.

Materiality Commentary

GHG emissions had not been an issue of
strategic importance to CareTech. However,
with increasing focus on the climate emergency
from all stakeholders as well as approaching
legislation and regulation, this issue is now fully
recognised as one of increasing strategic risk to
the long-term future of the business and is now
being addressed over the short- to mediumterm accordingly.

PL2 Land use and ecological sensitivity

UK only
Nature loss is not a material issue for CareTech. We do, however, make best use of the
natural green spaces within our community settings such as gardens and encourage
services to manage their gardens to support biodiversity.

Materiality Commentary

Nature loss is not perceived by stakeholders to
be an issue of particular relevance to CareTech
and it does not currently impact business
success.

WEF Core ESG Metrics
Disclosures FY2021/22

PL3 Water consumption and withdrawal in water-stressed areas
UK only
Water consumption is not a material issue for CareTech. We do, however, encourage all
our services to implement water conservation measures.

Materiality Commentary

Water use is not perceived by stakeholders to
be an issue of particular relevance to CareTech
and it does not currently impact business
success. There is a low-level long-term risk
associated with water supply but this is not
considered to be an issue for investment at
this stage.

 

WEF Core ESG Metrics
Disclosures FY2021/22

PP1.1 Diversity and inclusion (%)
All CareTech Group UK companies (except Purple
and SmartBox)
Water consumption is not a material issue for CareTech.
We do, however, encourage all our services to
implement water conservation measures.

Materiality Commentary

This is an issue that is increasing in importance for all
stakeholders and is particularly relevant to our people
and individuals in our care.
Our workforce is inherently diverse both as a
consequence of our culture and the nature of the
workforce. We have robust plans by which to build
on our strengths in this area, particularly in respect of
senior roles across the business.

WEF Core ESG Metrics
Disclosures FY2021/22

PP1.2 Pay equality (%)

CareTech Group UK businesses meeting legislative requirements for disclosure.
We capture salary and bonus data that shows our women:men ratio for this measure
across our operational/legal entities (data as of April 2021):

Materiality Commentary

In line with our commitment to diversity
equity and inclusion, we monitor pay equality
rigorously across the organisation.

WEF Core ESG Metrics
Disclosures FY2021/22

PP1.3 Wage level (%)

All CareTech Group UK companies (except Purple and SmartBox)
A) The table sets out the entry level wage by gender compared to the National Living
Wage for all new starters in this reporting period:

B) Ratio of the annual total compensation of the CEO to the median of the annual total
compensation of all its employees, except the CEO is 60.

Materiality Commentary

We are committed to ensuring fair pay and
attracting talent and recognise that competitive
salaries are a vital part of our wider benefits
package.
We are committed to ensuring that all staff are
rewarded appropriately and recognising their
contribution to the business fairly.

WEF Core ESG Metrics
Disclosures FY2021/22

PP1.4 Risks for incidents of child, forced or compulsory labour

Group-level
CareTech’s business is primarily one based on our people in our employment and in our
care; we therefore have relatively limited reliance on other suppliers. Our value chains are
mainly local — we recruit locally, our services buy locally, we partner locally, and we are
commissioned locally. We are working with our suppliers, in line with our procurement
policies, to safeguard against the risk of incidents of child forced or compulsory labour
within our value chains and are not aware of significant risks for incidents of this nature.
Our Modern Slavery Statement has been placed on the Home Office portal to enhance
its visibility and the company’s commitment. We have not received any allegations on
these issues during this reporting period. We will continue to assess and report on the full
supply chain across the Group to ensure compliance with our policies and procedures.

Materiality Commentary

In the care sector, this issue is perceived to be of
low risk, both by shareholders and operators. So,
whilst it is viewed as important, there is limited
action required on the part of the business.

WEF Core ESG Metrics
Disclosures FY2021/22

PP2.1 Health and safety (%)

CareTech Group UK businesses
There were zero work-related fatalities during this reporting period. All work-related
injuries are recorded and reported to insurers. High value claims (in excess of £100,00)
are monitored through the Board. Work-related injuries account for less than 1% of
workforce annually. The company recorded 67 RIDDOR (Reporting of Injuries, Diseases
and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013) incidents during this reporting period,
with injury types involving upper limb fractures, burns/scalds, head injury and lower limb
fractures.
The Company provides an employee support line that includes access to a range of
mental health and counselling services. Through the CareTech Foundation, all employees
and their families can apply for support if they face significant financial hardship,
including for example support with funeral costs.

Materiality Commentary

Health and wellbeing is of particular importance
to our employees. As a business dependent on
skilled and committed people, we recognise the
critical importance of protecting and enhancing
their wellbeing.

 

WEF Core ESG Metrics
Disclosures FY2021/22

PP3.1 Training provided (#, £)

All CareTech Group UK companies (except Purple and SmartBox)
Company policy is to provide all staff members with a minimum of five (5) days of learning
and development per year.
Not including training provided through our Apprenticeship scheme, in this reporting
period we delivered 365,736 learning interventions which we estimate to equate to
948,972 hours of training. This is an average of 88 hours – approximately, 11 days per employee.
We estimate that 80% of training is provided to front line care staff.
Total training costs, including our Apprenticeship Levy contributions, of approximately
£4.6m have been incurred across the total Group headcount of 11,242 to provide an
average training and development expenditure per employee of £409.

Materiality Commentary

The quality of service we provide is heavily
dependent on the people who deliver it and so
we are committed to ensuring that they have
access to the skills development required. This is
a key strategic priority.
All our stakeholders place importance on a
skilled workforce. Our employees seek to
constantly improve the standards of care that
they deliver and, so, we invest in enabling high
standards.

WEF Core ESG Metrics
Disclosures FY2021/22

PR1.1 Absolute number and rate of employment

A) Our staff retention rate is 71%.
The tables below record the total number of new employee hires
during the reporting period, by age group, gender and ethnicity.

Materiality Commentary

CareTech services play an important role
in local economies and we recognise the
importance of meeting the priorities and needs
of the communities in which we operate.
Our success provides work and opportunity
for those who we employ and also with the
businesses with which we engage. Conversely,
our success is intrinsically linked to the positive
interactions that we have with community
stakeholders.
Low employee turnover is an important
success factor and we are investing in
technology to provide better data visibility on
this key issue.

WEF Core ESG Metrics
Disclosures FY2021/22

PR1.1 Absolute number and rate of employment

71% staff retention rate

WEF Core ESG Metrics
Disclosures FY2021/22

PR1.1 Absolute number and rate of employment

The tables below record the pay rates of new employee hires during
the reporting period, by age group, gender and ethnicity.
Pay Group

WEF Core ESG Metrics
Disclosures FY2021/22

PR1.1 Absolute number and rate of employment

WEF Core ESG Metrics
Disclosures FY2021/22

PR1.1 Absolute number and rate of employment

WEF Core ESG Metrics
Disclosures FY2021/22

WEF Core ESG Metrics
Disclosures FY2021/22

PR1.2 Economic contribution

Group-level
ESG DISCLOSURE A
The Group’s direct economic value generated and distributed (EVG&D)
for the financial year was:

Revenues £510.7M
Operating Costs £117.9M
Employee wages and benefits £304.2M
Payments to providers of capital £16.0M
Payment to government £0
Community investment £1.5M

The Group made charitable donations to the CareTech Foundation in line
with its commitment to donate 2.5% of pre-tax profits to the Foundation.

Materiality Commentary

Sustainable economic contribution enables
our business to continue to provide value
for all stakeholders. As a core objective for
our business and our stakeholders, we place
considerable focus on this issue.

WEF Core ESG Metrics
Disclosures FY2021/22

 

PR1.2 Economic contribution

ESG DISCLOSURE B
Financial assistance received from the government:
COVID-19 social care grants received of £1.5m.
The Group has incurred additional costs as a result of COVID-19 in relation
to higher sickness absence rates, personal protective equipment (PPE) costs,
infection control and higher administration costs. The Group has received
additional funding by way of Government grants through local authorities
to assist in dealing with this. The Group has worked closely with all local
authorities in establishing a dedicated funding arrangement to support our
services which has been collected to offset the additional costs, as noted
above, that the Group has incurred in relation to COVID-19.

PR1.3 Financial investment contribution

Group-level
ESG DISCLOSURE:
Capital expenditure was £34.4M, which includes £12.7m to purchase and
develop new sites, £18.2m maintenance capex and £3.4m on intangibles.
Depreciation and amortisation for the year amounted to £19.5m and £13.3m
respectively.

WEF Core ESG Metrics
Disclosures FY2021/22

PR2.1 Total R&D expenses (£)

Group-level
ESG DISCLOSURE:
Research costs expensed £0.5M.

Materiality Commentary

To deliver on stakeholder expectations of
growth and impact, we are committed to
investing in innovation that will enable us to
meet our purpose and enable independence
for increasing numbers of people in our care.

PR3.1 Total tax paid

Group-level
ESG DISCLOSURE:
£26.4M consisting of: social security taxes £26.3M, Corporation Tax £2.9M,
and Stamp Duty £0.1M.

Materiality Commentary

As a legal requirement and corporate
obligation, this is a critical issue for all parties.
We are compliant with the law and therefore
no further action is required.

Key highlights – 2022

550 services in the UK

11,500 staff

71% retention rate

A new Runway Programme
was launched to provide
a framework for our
services to plan their own
contributions to CareTech’s
sustainability agenda

Purple Tuesday was the
second-highest trending
campaign on Twitter, reaching
over 5 million people

Over 6,000 shared statements
through the Mind of My Own app by 1,300 children
& 1,700 staff

More streamlined and efficient recruitment
processes were rolled out, with a new ATS
system and new Engagement Officer roles
improving new staff experience.

365,736 learning interventions delivered, averaging 11 days per
member of staff.

Over 4,000 people with Augmentative
& Alternative Communications tools are
supported by CareTech’s subsidiary,
Smartbox.

A new ESG committee was
established in addition to
CareTech’s Care4 Leadership Group.

All properties in the CareTech
portfolio now have Energy
Certificates.

Contact

Jonathan Freeman MBE
Group Sustainability Director
[email protected]

www.caretech-uk.com