does my company have a policy for the local community around the site

VSME B7 asks for concrete policy, not for goodwill

No, "we are good neighbours" is not a policy — the question about local community involvement asks for a documented approach, not an intention. In most cases, an SME has not formalized this separately, and that is not a problem in itself: many customers accept a "no" or "n.a." here without further explanation, especially if the company is small and has no demonstrable impact on the surrounding area. Where things often go wrong is when an entrepreneur tries to present loose activities — a sponsorship, an internship, a neighbourhood initiative — as "policy", while by definition that is an ad-hoc action and not a systematic approach.

If you have documented something — for example a fixed contribution to local initiatives, a preference for hiring locals, or agreements on nuisance limitation towards the neighbourhood — then that is your evidence: a document, note or internal decision in which that approach is set out. Verbal agreements or incidental donations do not qualify as "policy" in the sense of the question. If you are unsure whether your situation counts, look at how you have already answered similar questions: if you did not have a separate document for the question about a health and safety policy but did have fixed agreements, the line here is the same — documented agreements count, loose actions do not.

Where this comes from: VSME module B, social indicators

This question comes from the basic module of the EFRAG VSME standard, the voluntary reporting framework for non-listed SMEs that was developed under Directive (EU) 2022/2464 (CSRD). The standard groups questions about the company's environment — including community involvement — under social indicators, alongside topics such as the question about the male-female distribution in the workforce. The VSME module explicitly asks for a description of existing policy, not an obligation to create new policy — which is why a factual "no" is a valid answer.