Larger quoted companies in the UK now have to report on the environment, employees, social and community issues in the directors' report. Over 90% of the UK's largest companies now go beyond this and publish a dedicated corporate responsibility report. More than 50% of these are externally verified.

Verification distinguishes these reports from other less formal communications by providing validity and credibility. Typically it involves the independent assessment of report content for

• accuracy (can the data be relied on?)
• scope (are all key aspects covered?)
• relevance (is there sufficient focus on important issues?).

The Reassurance Network makes a clear distinction between verification , which provides confidence in reported data, and assurance , which provides confidence in responsible management. Varying levels of assurance can be built into the process of report verification, depending on client needs and stakeholder expectations.

•  we use experienced teams who add significant value to management thinking and perception of corporate responsibility during interviews and the wider process of verification.Managers find the process stimulating and productive.
•  we are rigorous and challenging to make sure that reports are accurate and credible
•  our process is time-efficient and developed to meet reporting deadlines
•  we bring significant experience to help streamline the assimilation and reporting of information
•  our statements are informative, adding value and substance to the report content
•  our management reports are specific, informed, practical and dedicated to promoting responsible and successful businesses

We provide independent verification of corporate responsibility reports and associated communications that is rigorous, challenging and adds value. Appropriate investigative and analytical tools are used to establish:

Progress against past commitments
These are extracted from past reports and evaluated. We comment on the level of achievement on past commitments in our statement and encourage our clients to include these in the main body of their report.

The accuracy and reliability of data
We select report content that we regard as significant, tabulate it and reference each element so that it can be systematically verified. Evidence is requested and appended electronically. This process has proven to be very time efficient and enables report managers to easily communicate and track requests for evidence internally. Much of the evidence will have been gathered during preliminary interviews with managers and stakeholders, further streamlining the verification stage of report publication. Anomalies and suggested text changes are clearly communicated and tracked through to the final draft. We work closely with the client to improve accuracy, clarify messaging and agree amendments.

During data checking we naturally form an opinion on the overall reliability of data systems and management and this informs our assessment of data accuracy. Unless requested to evaluate these systems more rigorously as part of an assurance assignment, we comment by exception, highlighting any weaknesses that we feel may affect the current or future reliability of data.

Completeness, Materiality and Responsiveness
This is required under the AA1000AS standard and is essential to reassure the reader that a report is an accurate reflection of issues, opinions and risks. We use a number of methods to evaluate completeness and materiality, including structured interviews with management, stakeholder and media research, a review of documented business risks and reviews of competitors' performance. Responsiveness is assessed by evaluating dialogue, communications and report content against the interest and opinions of key stakeholders. The degree to which the company has addressed previous concerns in this year's report is also evaluated.

Our default service uses the Accountability AA10000AS standard to review the completeness and materiality of content, as well as the degree to which the report responds to stakeholder interests. We also offer formal verification of content against the Global Reporting Initiative G3 guidelines if required. Our processes are informed by the International Standard on Assurance Engagements (ISAE 3000) although we prefer not to state formal compliance as it can limit what we can include in our statement.

AA1000AS requires us to extend the coverage beyond the scope of the Report to understand the wider issues facing the business, and the process by which the Report content was selected. We do this through a series of carefully structured interviews to assess management focus and stakeholder interest.

We can carry out assignment formally to ISAE3000 if requested. The standard defines two levels of assurance (reasonable assurance and limited assurance) and restricts limited assurance statements to a “negative form of expression” i.e. “nothing has come to our attention that would lead us to believe……”.