| Auditor's Report |
The 1997 Partnership Report is only the beginning of a development that will continue over the years to come. As there are no models or standard 'accounting' procedures for such an integrated approach, the development will proceed to some extent by trial and error. The 'trial' for this year's report was submitting the result of an evolving and incomplete accounting and reporting process to external verification. ethics etc... has audited the following parts of the Partnership Report:
The audit involved checking data and data sources. In the case of questionnaires and Partner interviews I investigated how the questions originated to ascertain to what extent the output represented the actual concerns and interests of the Partner group. I also examined relevant systems within the bank, for example ensuring compliance with the bank's Ethical Policy and Ecological Mission Statement, and relevant internal auditing processes. Where I considered it appropriate I sought the advice of a number of the bank's external advisers as well as independent experts.the bank's staff have co-operated fully with the audit process and have allowed me full access to information and people I considered it necessary to consult. On the basis of the audit I have conducted I am satisfied that the Partnership Report for 1997 gives an accurate and balanced view of the bank's relationships with its Partners during the period. More detailed observations are given in the body of the Report as well as my own analysis of the bank's Landmines Campaign and its affinity relationship with Greenpeace, which I selected as case studies in seeking to understand how the bank relates to Partners in society.
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I have been impressed for some time with the Inclusive Partnership Approach of The Co-operative Bank. This is consistent with the Tomorrow's Company vision. While it is easy to use fine words, it is much harder to establish a consistent discipline of measuring and publicly reporting against these targets. It is clear from reading their 1997 Annual Report, that inclusivity to The Co-operative Bank is not simply about fine words.There is a clear logic, which flows from the identification of the seven Partners through to the rigorous measurement of performance against each target in each relationship - even when this means publishing adverse results. I am happy to commend The Co-operative Bank's 1997 Report as a valuable step forward in the journey towards inclusiveness.
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