Assurance Statement
We want our reporting to be objective and credible. The following independent third party statement relates to the performance pages of this website.
Independent assurance report by Deloitte & Touche LLP to Vodafone Group Plc on the web-based Group Corporate Responsibility Report for the 2008 financial year
What we looked at: scope of our work
Vodafone Group Plc (‘Vodafone’) has engaged us to give assurance on:
Reasonable assurance:
1. AA1000 assurance: managing and reporting Corporate Responsibility (‘CR’) performance 2007/08 – their description on the webpage 'Our application of AA1000' of using the principles of:
- completeness (the way that stakeholders are identified and their views and concerns are understood),
- materiality (the list of issues which Vodafone considers to be most material to its business); and
- responsiveness (the response to stakeholder feedback on key CR issues)
as set out in the AccountAbility 1000 Assurance Standard (AA1000 AS) in the managing and reporting of their CR performance for 2007/08 (as reported in the web section on 'Our performance 2007/08');
2. GRI assurance: using the Global Reporting Initiative 2006 Sustainability Reporting Guidelines (‘the GRI guidelines’) in preparing the report – their self-declaration on the webpage 'Reporting' that they have applied the GRI guidelines at level ‘B+’ in preparing the report; and
Limited assurance:
3. Progress against targets – their reported progress against their 2006/07 commitments on the webpage 'Performance and commitments'.
The webpages included within the assurance scope have been marked with 'This webpage was part of Deloitte's CR report assurance scope'. Other pages within the Group CR web section are not included within the assurance scope.
What we found: our assurance opinion
Reasonable assurance opinion:
In our opinion, in all material respects:
1. Vodafone’s description on the webpage ‘Our application of AA1000’ of their alignment to the AA1000 AS principles of completeness, materiality and responsiveness in reporting their performance for 2007/08 in the web section ‘Our performance 2007/08’ is fairly stated.
2. Vodafone’s self-declaration on the webpage ‘Reporting’ that they have applied the GRI guidelines at level B+ is fairly stated.
Limited assurance conclusion:
3. Based on the assurance work, nothing has come to our attention that causes us to believe that the reported progress against Vodafone’s 2006/07 commitments on the webpage ‘Performance and commitments’ is not fairly stated.
Our further comments
In accordance with the requirements of the AA1000 AS and without affecting our assurance opinion, Vodafone has also asked us to provide our key observations and recommendations for improvement.
Improvements made since 2006/07
Vodafone has made the following key improvements in managing and reporting its CR performance since last year:
- Announced a target to reduce CO2 emissions by 50% by 2020 against its 2006/7 baseline of 1.23 million tonnes;
- Established the Vodafone Corporate Responsibility Expert Panel – a forum for key stakeholders who are experts on CR issues important for Vodafone;
- Rolled out a "Duty to Report" policy requiring all employees, contractors and suppliers to report any ethical concerns; and
- Increased CR capability in the China region by basing two CR-qualified auditors within the purchasing team in the new supply chain offices in Beijing and Hong Kong.
Areas to consider for further improvements
Our key recommendations to Vodafone for future improvement in managing and reporting CR are related to the following areas:
- Increasingly local operating companies are signing up to codes of conduct covering a variety of activities in their market places; consideration should be given to undertaking compliance auditing in order to ensure that codes are being adhered to;
- Contractors, outsourcing partners and joint venture arrangements are an increasing part of how Vodafone does business. A systematic process should be developed to measure and monitor their CR performance in areas which are important to Vodafone, such as health & safety;
- Around the world Vodafone conducts a large part of it's business through partner networks and affiliates; the Group CR team is actively engaged with a number of these on CR issues but consideration should be given to increasing formality in the measurement and monitoring of their performance;
- The acquisition of what has become Vodafone Essar in India will present a number of CR challenges which will make it important that sufficient resources are allocated to both developing their CR strategy and, over time, bringing their CR performance in line with other local operating companies; and
- As a "total communications" provider rather than a mobile telephony company, Vodafone will need to ensure that sufficient focus and resources are targeted at the different CR issues which this introduces and existing ones that become more important, particularly given the issues of privacy and content standards which access to the internet gives rise to.
What standards we used: basis of our work and level of assurance
Our work was carried out by a multi-disciplinary team of CR assurance specialists in accordance with the International Standard on Assurance Engagements 3000 (ISAE 3000) and AA1000 AS.
For the AA1000 and GRI assurance we were asked to perform reasonable assurance procedures. Considering the risk of material error, we planned and performed our work to obtain all the information and explanations we considered necessary to provide sufficient evidence that Vodafone’s description of their approach to AA1000 AS and their self-declaration of compliance with the GRI guidelines were fairly stated.
The evaluation criteria used for the AA1000 assurance were based on the AA1000 AS principles of materiality, completeness and responsiveness and Vodafone’s application of these principles in preparing the reported performance for 2007/08, as described on the webpage ‘Our application of the AA1000’. This subject matter and criteria were primarily of a qualitative nature, assessing whether the reporting provides the main audience for the Group CR Report a useful understanding of Vodafone’s CR approach taken as a whole. To perform this evaluation, limited review of reported quantitative performance information and where relevant, review of the supporting evidence for such information have been performed. However, it does not include specific testing of the accuracy and does not provide assurance of the reported performance indicators in the Group CR Report.
For the reported progress against targets we were asked to perform limited assurance. To achieve limited assurance, ISAE 3000 requires that we review the processes, systems and competencies that deliver the information for the reported progress against targets. It does not include detailed testing of source data or the operating effectiveness of processes and internal controls. This provides less assurance and is substantially less in scope than reasonable assurance.
What we did: our key assurance procedures
Our key procedures included:
- interviewing more than 25 managers at Vodafone’s head office, including the Group CR team and those with operational responsibility for the issues covered in the Group CR Report;
- visiting four local operating companies (Australia, the Netherlands, Spain and Turkey); interviewing local CR teams and those individuals with operational responsibility for relevant local CR issues covered in the Group CR report. We have also gathered information about one further local operating company (Hungary) by requesting management to complete a questionnaire and conducting interviews with them;
- reading and analysing public information relating to Vodafone and industry CR practices and performance during the year;
- analysing and testing on a sample basis the Company’s processes relating to:
- stakeholder identification, engagement and responsiveness;
- management commitment and the governance structures used for managing CR;
- implementation of CR-related policies, codes of conduct, internal audit and other monitoring activities;
- collation, aggregation, validation and reporting of CR performance data including relevant GRI guidelines; and
- reporting progress made against 2006/07 commitments.
- reviewing the development process for the CR Report, including the selection of material issues;
- checking that the GRI conformance index (available at www.vodafone.com/responsibility/gri), for each of the standard disclosures required by the GRI guidance required at level ‘B+’, contains the relevant indicator or an explanation is given as to why it is not relevant to Vodafone; and
- reviewing the content of the report against the findings of our work and making recommendations for improvement where necessary.
Responsibilities of Directors and independent assurance provider
Vodafone’s responsibilities
The Directors are responsible for the preparation of the Group CR Report and for the information and statements contained within it. They are responsible for determining Vodafone’s CR objectives and for establishing and maintaining appropriate performance management and internal control systems from which the reported information is derived.
Deloitte’s responsibilities, independence and team competencies
Our responsibility is to independently express conclusions on the three subject matters specified by Vodafone set out above.
We complied with Deloitte’s independence policies, which address and, in certain areas, exceed the requirements of the International Federation of Accountants Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants. We have confirmed to Vodafone that we have maintained our independence and objectivity throughout the year, and in particular that there were no events or prohibited services provided which could impair our independence and objectivity in the provision of this engagement.
Our report is made solely to Vodafone Group Plc in accordance with our letter of engagement for the purpose of the Directors’ governance and stewardship. Our work has been undertaken so that we might state to Vodafone those matters we are required to state to them in this report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than Vodafone Group Plc for our work, for this report, or for the conclusions we have formed.
This report provides no assurance on the maintenance and integrity of the website, including controls used to maintain website integrity, and in particular whether any changes may have occurred to the information subsequent to publication. These matters are the responsibility of the Directors of Vodafone Group Plc.
