What is the AA1000 Stakeholder Engagement Standard?
We’re proud to be a stakeholder-led business. That means we actively listen to and work with our stakeholders to shape our decisions, projects, and long-term strategy. To ensure our engagement is meaningful and effective, we follow the AA1000 Stakeholder Engagement Standard (AA1000SES). This is a globally recognised framework developed by AccountAbility for assessing, designing, implementing, and communicating an integrated approach to stakeholder engagement.
What Does the AA1000SES Assess?
Each year, our stakeholder engagement process, practices, and engagement tools are independently assessed against the AA1000SES framework. This looks at the following areas:
Stakeholder Identification – understanding who our stakeholders are and how they are affected by our work.
Engagement Planning – designing tailored engagement approaches that suit different stakeholder groups.
Engagement Execution – delivering inclusive and respectful engagement activities.
Integration into Decision-Making – using stakeholder input to inform our governance, strategy, and operations.
Monitoring and Evaluation – reviewing the effectiveness of our engagement and identifying areas for improvement.
Achieving the AccountAbility AA1000 Stakeholder Engagement Standard
Our AA1000 Stakeholder Engagement Standard score as of May 2025 is 95% with a top-tier rating of “Advanced" in the AccountAbility Stakeholder Engagement Maturity Ladder.
This is a 7% increase on our 2024 score and is our 4th consecutive year in the top tier ‘Advanced’. All core areas we are assessed against, also all sit in the “Advanced” category, each scoring above 90%, showing our continued commitment to high-quality stakeholder engagement.
How We Use the AA1000SES to Improve
We use the AA1000SES framework to:
- Engage early and openly with stakeholders to understand their needs and concerns.
- Foster two-way conversations that build trust and transparency.
- Ensure feedback is acted upon and visibly influences our decisions.
- Regularly review and refine our engagement processes based on independent assessments and stakeholder input.
We Welcome Your Feedback
We are always looking to improve. If you have thoughts on how we engage or suggestions for doing it better, we’d love to hear from you. Please contact Nicola Findlay, Communications Policy Manager, email: nicola.findlay1@sse.com