Statement of independence, impartiality and
competence ethics etc... is an independent social
accounting consultancy and assurance provider. It has a
Business Direct account with the bank, but no other
business or personal relationship with the bank or its
directors and managers. There are no business or
consultancy relationships with any of the bank's Partners
(stakeholders) that have impinged on my ability to act
impartially. I am a certified practicing member of the
Institute of Social and Ethical AccountAbility (ISEA). I have
contributed to the development of the Institute and its
AA1000 Framework and Assurance Standard, and also to
the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). I have audited The
Co-operative Bank's Partnership Reports since 1997.
Responsibilities of the directors and the auditor The
directors of The Co-operative Bank plc are responsible for
the information in the Partnership Report. My primary duty
is to consider the interests of the bank's Partners. The
directors have agreed to publish my assessment of
whether the report gives a trustworthy, complete and
balanced account of the bank's performance. It is my
responsibility to inform Partners where the bank has made
progress in reporting and responding to their concerns, as
well as aspects of its reporting and response that require
further attention.
Assurance standards In assessing the Partnership
Report I have used The Institute of Social and Ethical
AccountAbility's Assurance Standard AA1000as. In
addition, I have applied the objectives and principles in
the International Standard on Auditing (ISA 200) of the
International Federation of Accountants.
Scope and basis of the assurance provider's opinion
The subject matter of the Partnership Report is the
business of The Co-operative Bank plc. I have assessed
the completeness, materiality, and balance of the whole
Partnership Report, particularly in relation to the interests
of the bank's Partners. I have investigated and tested the
accuracy of statements, data and the reporting of
Partners' opinions. I have interviewed managers and
reviewed the control environment, management
practices, data systems and Partner engagement
processes, which support the bank's ethical and
ecological values and practices. I have also paid particular
attention to the responsiveness of the bank since it last
reported, and to concerns expressed by Partners about
its policies and performance. The level and detail of
investigation carried out was based on knowledge of the
bank gained during five years of auditing its Partnership
Reports, together with a review of activities and
managerial changes during 2002. This initial assessment,
and my audit work, highlighted areas for more detailed
analysis where it was considered that there might be a risk
of material misstatement or omission.
I can confirm that the information in the Partnership
Report and audited Financial Statements is consistent. I
have also considered the statements by The Centre for
Tomorrow's Company (Follow this link to the Assessment of Delivering Value), Business in the
Community (Follow this link to the Assessment of Social Responsibility) and The Natural Step (Follow this link to the Assessment of Ecological Sustainability) to
ensure that they are consistent with my own findings.
I selected two of the bank's campaigns in 2002 - Cluster
Bombs and The Ethical Purchasing Index for review.
I interviewed managers, participants and beneficiaries
of the bank's support and Follow this link to the campaign analyses.
I can confirm that the bank has disclosed original data
I considered relevant and allowed unlimited access to
management files, reports by internal and independent
specialists, and to staff and Partner representatives.
I am confident that no material information has been
deliberately withheld.
Opinion
Completeness The bank has an effective process in
place for identifying and understanding material aspects
of its sustainability performance, and has included in the
Partnership Report, as far as I have been able to
ascertain, all the material information on all its activities
that is relevant to its Partners, now or in the foreseeable
future.
Materiality The bank is commended for the extent to
which it aligns its ethical policies with the concerns of its
Partners and the manner in which it reports against
performance criteria Partners consider relevant. In my
opinion there are no omissions or misrepresentation in the
Partnership Report that could adversely affect Partners'
ability to make informed judgements about the bank's
performance.
Responsiveness The Co-operative Bank is unique in its
commitment to, and disclosure of, a detailed set of social
and ethical policies, which are based on its customers'
views as to how it should conduct business. It is also
unusual in rigorously pursuing an ecological mission
statement, based on The Natural Step, and applying its
principles to screening lending, the provision of banking
services, purchasing and operations management. The
bank has reported on work during the year to improve
performance in a number of areas and is commended for
its systematic efforts to address these issues. Items of
particular note now follow.
- The most recent review of the Ethical Policy involved
a much greater degree of customer consultation prior
to formulation of the Policy questionnaire. Following
adoption of the revised Policy, the Ethical Policy Unit
has dealt with an increased number of referrals and a
wider range of issues, but the bank has continued to
make decisions on the basis of Policy rather than
possible short term commercial gain. The Ethical
Advocates scheme has been extended, and
intensified training for Advocates (and staff generally)
has been provided.
- The bank's strong ethical stance continues to
command the loyalty of large numbers of its
customers. However, surveys for this report have
shown some small reductions in customers' generally
high levels of satisfaction with their business
relationship with the bank and the service they
receive. I am satisfied that the bank has made
considerable efforts to ensure that it will deliver
increased customer satisfaction in future. I welcome
the bank's commitment to report against specific
targets for improvement.
- A significant proportion of staff have raised concerns
about pressure at work and dissatisfaction with career
progression. I believe the bank has responded
positively to these concerns with its new Well-Being
Policy and some imaginative initiatives to enhance
career development opportunities. I welcome the
bank's commitment to monitor the impact of these
initiatives. While significant numbers of staff continue
to indicate dissatisfaction with pay, the bank has, in
my opinion, reported fairly that its pay is above the
median for the sector across all levels and in my
opinion its benefits are excellent.
- Health and Safety policies, reporting and accident
prevention have been greatly improved in 2002.
- The bank's continued work on climate change,
including the development of greener bank products,
is commendable. However, I believe that more
resource could be allocated to accelerate the
development of targeted investment opportunities in
green industries. I would also welcome a review of the
bank's main corporate lending portfolio to indicate the
extent to which it has increased lending to businesses
that go some way to meeting the Natural Step
sustainability conditions.
- Whilst the bank has done much to reduce the
environmental impact of its car fleet, and has
committed to action in relation to hire cars, there is
still only limited management of mileage arising via
employees use of their own vehicles. This will need to
be considered in the future.
In summary, on the basis of the work I have done,
I believe this report fairly represents the bank's
activities during 2002 and its economic, social and
ecological impact on its partners. I believe that this
Report also demonstrates that the bank is generally
responsive to Partners' concerns.
Richard Evans
27th March 2003
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Richard Evans, Director of ethics etc... |
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