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The Dowler Family is the behind Milly's Fund - the O2 UK charity of choice
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| This report has been verified by our external assurance providers, Ernst & Young, to ensure that it is an accurate reflection of our performance. |
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To the Management of mmO2 plc
We have been asked to review mmO2 plc's (O2) 2004 corporate responsibility report (the Report) in order to provide assurance on its contents. O2 is responsible for the collection and presentation of information within the report.
Our responsibility in performing this work is to the management of O2 only and in accordance with the terms of reference agreed with them. We do not therefore accept or assume any responsibility for any other purpose or to any other person or organisation. Any reliance any such third party may place on the Report is entirely at its own risk.
What we did to form our conclusions
There are currently no statutory requirements in the UK in relation to the independent review of corporate responsibility reports. The AA1000 Assurance Standard sets out principles for social and environmental report assurance. We have been asked by O2 to set out our conclusions by reference to the assurance principles described in the AA1000 Assurance Standard.
Our review consisted of the activities outlined below:
1. Interviews with a selection of O2 management and functional staff at mmO2 plc headquarters in Slough to understand the current status of corporate responsibility activities and progress made during the reporting period.
2. Visits to selected O2 operating businesses to review the systems and processes in place for managing and reporting corporate responsibility issues at the operating businesses and to review evidence in support of claims made in the Report regarding O2's corporate responsibility performance. The operating businesses visited were:
- O2 Airwave
- O2 Germany in Munich
- O2 Ireland in Dublin and the customer services centre in Limerick
3. Testing the scope and balance of the information contained in the Report against:
- Internal documents such as Board minutes and papers, Executive Committee minutes and papers and Corporate Responsibility Advisory Council minutes.
- A selection of external media sources relating to O2's management of corporate responsibility issues.
- Outputs of employee engagement commissioned by O2 and conducted by an external agency on its corporate responsibility performance.
- External feedback provided to O2 on the 2003 Report
- Outputs of the 2003 stakeholder engagement conducted by an external agency.
4. Testing claims made in the Report regarding O2's corporate responsibility performance by reviewing evidence provided by O2.
Level of Assurance
There are currently no final guidelines for levels of assurance when using the AA1000 Assurance Standard. We planned and performed our review to obtain information and explanations that we considered necessary to form our conclusions on the Report within the terms of reference agreed with O2 management.
The limitations of our review
Our review did not include:
- Testing the processes for gathering or reporting the various data presented in the Report. Therefore, we provide no assurance on the completeness, quality and accuracy of it.
- Observing or conducting stakeholder engagement activities. Therefore, our conclusions on materiality and responsiveness are based on the review of outputs of stakeholder engagement provided to us by O2.
- Testing whether the Report had been prepared in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative Guidelines.
- Testing the scope of the Report against issues reported on by O2's peers.
Our conclusions
Based on the scope of our review our conclusions are outlined below:
Materiality
Has O2 provided a balanced representation of material issues concerning O2's corporate responsibility performance?
- The Report provides a balanced representation of material aspects concerning O2's corporate responsibility performance.
- O2 has undertaken a series of research activities described in the 'our approach to corporate responsibility' section which have informed the selection of issues to be reported.
Completeness
Does O2 have complete information on which to base a judgement of what is material for inclusion in the Report?
- We are not aware of any material issues excluded or misstatements made in relation to the information provided to the Corporate Responsibility Advisory Council on which judgements are made in respect of progress against corporate responsibility and the content of the Report.
- The processes for reporting progress in corporate responsibility activities are being revised. Corporate responsibility reports will be provided to the O2 Executive Committee each quarter for review along with progress against relevant key performance indicators that are being developed for each operating business.
Responsiveness
Has O2 responded to stakeholder concerns?
- We consider that the Report's scope and content addresses issues expressed in the stakeholder engagement outputs provided to us by O2.
- We have observed policies, programmes and discrete activities aimed at addressing a range of issues raised through stakeholder engagement. It is recognised that the response taken is O2's judgement and may not always be consistent with the expectations of all stakeholders.
- The Report, which is published annually, is available in English, which is the first language for a large proportion of O2 employees and stakeholders. The O2 Germany section of the report will be available in German for the first time this year.
Evidence
- Claims and statements. We have tested claims and statements made in the Report regarding O2's corporate responsibility performance by obtaining supporting evidence from O2. Where O2 could not provide sufficient supporting evidence the text has been revised or removed.
Our independence
Ernst & Young has not previously advised O2 on any aspects relating to the organisation's approach to corporate responsibility or any business processes relating to the management of the issues discussed in the report.
Our assurance team
Our assurance team has been drawn from our UK corporate responsibility team. All members of the team are experienced in social and environmental assurance having worked on similar engagements for a number of significant UK and international businesses.
Ernst & Young LLP
London, 30 June 2004
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