Independent Assurance Report to the Directors of Experian plc on Selected Corporate Responsibility Information
We have been engaged by the Directors of Experian plc (the "Company") to perform an independent limited assurance engagement in respect of Selected Corporate Responsibility Information ("Selected Information") for the year ended 31 March 2010 contained in the report "Experian — Corporate Responsibility 2010" (the "Corporate Responsibility Report").
Scope and subject matter
The Selected Information for the year ended 31 March 2010 subject to limited assurance consists of data in the Corporate Responsibility Report relating to:
- Carbon dioxide emissions
- Community investment
- Employee diversity
- Health and wellbeing
The data which has been subject to the limited assurance has been presented together in the section entitled "Selected
Information subject to limited assurance engagement".
We read the other information included in the Corporate Responsibility Report and consider whether it is consistent with the Selected Information. We consider the implications for our report if we become aware of any apparent misstatements or material inconsistencies with the Selected Information. Our responsibilities do not extend to any other information.
Respective responsibilities of the Directors and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
The Directors are responsible for the content of the Corporate Responsibility Report, the preparation of the Selected Information in accordance with the criteria set out in the Company's Reporting Policies (as set out in Reporting Principles and Methodologies at www.experiancrreport.com), and for the development of the Reporting Policies.
The Directors are responsible for the controls over and the security of the website and for establishing and controlling the process for electronically distributing the Corporate Responsibility Report and Selected Information. We accept no responsibility for any changes that may have occurred to the Selected Information or the Corporate Responsibility Report since it was initially presented on the website.
Our responsibility is to form an independent conclusion, based on our limited assurance procedures, on whether anything has come to our attention to indicate that the Selected Information is not fairly stated, in all material respects, in accordance with the Company's Reporting Policies.
We are in compliance with the applicable independence and competency requirements of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) Code of Ethics. Our team comprised assurance practitioners and relevant subject matter experts.
This report, including the conclusion, has been prepared for the Directors of the Company as a body, to assist the Directors in reporting on the Company's activities in relation to corporate responsibility. We permit the disclosure of this report within the web based Corporate Responsibility Report for the year ended 31 March 2010, and a printed version thereof, to enable the Directors to demonstrate they have discharged their governance responsibilities by commissioning an independent assurance report in connection with the Corporate Responsibility Report. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the Directors as a body and the Company for our work or this report save where terms are expressly agreed and with our prior consent in writing.
Assurance work performed
We conducted our limited assurance engagement in accordance with International Standard on Assurance Engagements 3000 (Revised) — 'Assurance Engagements other than Audits and Reviews of Historical Financial Information' issued by the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board ("ISAE 3000").
Our limited assurance procedures primarily comprised:
- Making enquiries of relevant management of the Group about the process for preparing the report and the associated
internal control system;
- Evaluating the design of the key processes and controls for managing and reporting the Selected Information;
- Limited testing, on a selective basis, of supporting evidence for the Selected Information;
- Agreement of benchmark Profit Before Tax (PBT) with that reported within the Company's Annual Report;
- Undertaking analytical procedures over the Selected Information;
We have not performed assurance procedures over the gathering and processing of data by the third party provider of floor
space information.
A limited assurance engagement is substantially less in scope than a reasonable assurance engagement under ISAE 3000. Consequently, the nature, timing and extent of procedures for gathering sufficient appropriate evidence are deliberately limited relative to a reasonable assurance engagement.
Inherent limitations
Non-financial performance information is subject to more inherent limitations than financial information, given the characteristics of the subject matter and the methods used for determining such information. The absence of a significant body of established practice on which to draw allows for the selection of different but acceptable measurement techniques which can result in materially different measurements and can impact comparability. The precision of different measurement techniques may also vary. Furthermore, the nature and methods used to determine such information, as well as the measurement criteria and the precision thereof, may change over time. It is important to read the Corporate Responsibility Report in the context of the Company's Reporting Policies set out in Reporting Principles and Methodologies on www.experiancrreport.com.
In particular, the conversion of electricity and fuel used to carbon emissions is based upon, inter alia, information and factors derived by independent third parties as explained in the Reporting Policies. Our assurance work has not included examination of the derivation of those factors and other third party information.
Conclusion
Based on the results of our procedures nothing has come to our attention that causes us to believe that the Selected Information included in the Corporate Responsibility Report for the year ended 31 March 2010, is not fairly stated, in all material respects, in accordance with the Company's Reporting Policies.
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Chartered Accountants
London
11 June 2010
Selected Information subject to independent limited assurance engagement
The following tables present the Selected Information subject to limited assurance contained in Experian plc's Corporate Responsibility Report for the year ended 31 March 2010.
All data refers to the year ended 31 March 2010 unless otherwise stated. The Reporting Principles and Methodologies used in preparation of the Selected Information are set out on www.experiancrreport.com.
C02 emissions |
Kilo tonnes | Kilograms per US$1000 revenue |
| Buildings | 62 | 16 |
| Transport | 16 | 4 |
| Total | 78 | 20 |
Community investment |
US$'000 |
| Funds from Experian plc | 1,001 |
| Financial donations from Experian subsidiaries | 932 |
| Employee time volunteered | 595 |
| Gifts in kind | 343 |
| Management costs | 179 |
| Total from Experian | 3,050 |
| As % of Benchmark PBT* | 0.34% |
| Employee fundraising | 679 |
| GUS Charitable Trust donations | 602 |
| Total value of all giving | 4,331 |
| As % of Benchmark PBT* | 0.48% |
Gender diversity (%) |
Male | Female |
| North America | 53 | 47 |
| Latin America | 48 | 52 |
| UK and Ireland | 63 | 37 |
| EMEA | 53 | 47 |
| Asia Pacific | 53 | 47 |
| Total | 54 | 46 |
Age diversity excluding EMEA (%) |
Under 25 | 25-39 | 40-55 | Over 55 |
| North America | 6 | 49 | 36 | 9 |
| Latin America | 20 | 61 | 17 | 2 |
| UK and Ireland | 10 | 62 | 25 | 3 |
| Asia Pacific | 10 | 81 | 9 | 0 |
| Total excluding EMEA | 10 | 59 | 26 | 5 |
Age diversity EMEA (%) |
16-19 | 20-24 | 25-34 | 35-49 | 50-59 | 60-65 | Over 65 |
| EMEA | 0 | 7 | 44 | 42 | 6 | 1 | 0 |
|
Ethnic diversity UK (%) |
||
| White - British | 85 | |
| White - non British | 6 | |
| Asian/Asian British | 6 | |
| Other | 3 |
Disabilities - Brazil (Serasa) |
Number of individuals by disability type |
|
| Physical | 48 | |
| Hearing | 25 | |
| Visual | 16 | |
| Learning difficulties | 1 | |
| Total | 90 |
Health and safety |
Injuries with absence |
Injuries with no absence |
Total injuries |
||
| UK and Ireland | 1 | 28 | 29 | ||
| US | 17 | 17 | 34 | ||
| Brazil | 21 | 13 | 34 |
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