Assurance
Aviva is committed to annual external assurance. This year's external review of our CSR report is provided by Ernst & Young. The assurance process covers the entire CSR summary report.
Independent review statement
To the management of Aviva plc
We have been asked to review Aviva's "Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Report 2005 – a summary" (the Report) in accordance with the scope of work described below. Aviva management has prepared the Report and are responsible for the collection and presentation of information within it. Our responsibility in performing our work is to Aviva management in accordance with the terms agreed, we do not therefore accept or assume any responsibility for any other purpose or to any other person or organisation.
Our scope of work
We have undertaken a series of activities to review the progress made in CSR during 2004 in order to provide a basis on which to challenge the Report's content. We have completed the following activities:
- Interviewed key management and functional staff identified as having group responsibilities for the CSR programme.
- Interviewed nominated CSR managers from six Aviva businesses to understand the processes for managing and reporting progress on CSR within those businesses.
- Reviewed a selection of group CSR documentation such as: board reports on CSR, minutes of the CSR review group and CSR steering group meetings, and guidance documents on CSR reporting.
- Reviewed the CSR progress reports received from each of the Aviva businesses covering CSR activities in 2004.
- Tested that data in the Report has been correctly transposed from internal reporting processes.
Our conclusions
Based on the scope of work described above, we conclude that:
- The examples used in the Report to illustrate CSR progress within the Aviva businesses have been drawn from the CSR progress reports submitted by each business and related correspondence.
- The data in the Report has been correctly transposed from internal reporting processes.
- There are no statements or claims within the Report that were inconsistent with evidence obtained during the course of our work.
Ernst & Young LLP
London, 31st March 2005