Approach

On Key Issues
Not all could provide comment, but from those who a wide range of issues were highlighted as important, however the key issues that stakeholders want Miller Homes to consider were:

• the full impact of a house throughout its entire life cycle;
• responding to climate change, including responding positively to adaptation and mitigation;
• building houses with zero defects and high standards of environmental performance;
• using land and resources efficiently;
• creating developments with a sense of place, that support community regeneration;
• the importance of place making and design in delivering sustainable communities

On the Targets
There were mixed views on targets proposed, some saying they were challenging and others saying they could go further. Whilst recognising that we can not please all parties all of the time, we have addressed the key concerns through providing further definition and clarity on the proposed targets and included additional focus areas for the future.

On Reporting
Reporting was identified as a valuable source of information for those who might wish to use it, helping to raise awareness amongst stakeholders. However, a number of respondents said that they had not read the previous Miller Group CSR report, and this raises questions of the effectiveness of the report for communicating with this group.

We believe that corporate responsibility can help us achieve our goals and Miller Homes wants to be the best at corporate responsibility in the housebuilding sector. We also want to be an example of good practice in corporate responsibility for all organisations.

We know that corporate responsibility isn't just about how we run our business. It is also about the impact we have on the people we interact with every day and the communities and environments that we work in. Corporate responsibility requires us to be responsible and accountable for our positive and negative impacts. This means setting ourselves some tough targets.

Over the next year we intend to discuss what it will take to achieve these targets with each stakeholder. This will be important because at times it may require our stakeholders to change their approach, or help us develop the right solutions.

Engaging Opinion on this Strategy
In developing this strategy Miller Homes contacted specific opinion leaders on good corporate responsibility practice within the house building sector to discuss the approach, key issues, targets and expected outcomes. The following organisations were approached:

• The Construction Confederation
• DTI (Sustainable Construction Unit)
• Planning Officers Society
• Henderson Global Investors
• Insight Investment
• Construction Industry Council
• Campaign to Protect Rural England
• CaRB Project, De Montfort University
• BRE
• WWF
• Construction Products Association
• CIRIA/CIEF
• Town and Country Planning Association
• Association of British Insurers
• Local Government Association
• Friends of the Earth
• Royal Town Planning Institute
• Environment Agency
• Sustainable Development Commission
• Corporate Responsibility Coalition
• CABE