E

• EMI or EMF

  Elderly Mentally Infirm (EMI) or Elderly Mentally Frail - people with dementia or similar infirmity or fraility.

• English Partnerships

  A quasi-autonomous non governmental organisation (QUANGO) that was established in 1993 to promote urban regeneration. Many functions were transferred to Regional Development Agencies in 1999 and 2000. It retains a role where regeneration issues affect more than one region.

• Environment Agency

  A non-departmental public body established by the Environment Act 1995 and sponsored by the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). It has policy links to the Welsh Office and the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.

• Equity finance

  Funds invested in a business in the form of shares. Investors usually have a say in the running of the company and also receive a dividend from profits.

• ESOP

  An employee share ownership plan (ESOP) allows employees to participate financially in their businesses in a tax efficient way. They are a combination of an employee benefit trust (EBT) and a share distribution mechanism approved by the Inland Revenue (in the form of a profit sharing trust, a company share option scheme, or a savings-related share option scheme). An unapproved option scheme can be used in some cases.

• Ethical investment

  Investment which is screened to ensure it has no links to activities which the investor would not wish to support.

• Externalisation

  The transfer of in-house services which were previously delivered by publicly employed staff, to the independent sector.