LRQA Assurance statement
Relating to Q-Park NV’s ‘Verantwoord Parkeren 2013’ for the calendar year 2013
This Assurance Statement has been prepared for Q-Park NV in accordance with our contract but is intended for the readers of this Report.
Terms of Engagement
Lloyd’s Register Quality Assurance Ltd. (LRQA) was commissioned by Q-Park NV to provide independent assurance on its ‘Verantwoord Parkeren 2013’ (“the Report”) for the year 2013 to a limited level of assurance using LRQA’s verification procedure. LRQA’s verification procedure is based on current best practise and uses the international principles of AA1000AS (2008) - Inclusivity, Materiality, Responsiveness and Reliability of performance data and processes defined in ISAE3000.
Our assurance engagement covered Q-Park NV’s operations and activities in Europe and specifically the following requirements:
- Verifying conformance with Q-Park’s reporting methodologies as defined in ‘Quintessence PI Protocol’
- Evaluating the accuracy of data and information as presented in the Report.
Our assurance engagement excluded:
- All financial disclosures, opinions, interviews, personal statements, future plans and visions including the grey areas in the Report
- Data, information, trends and claims from previous and future years; i.e. other than for 2013
- Compliance with GRI’s Sustainability Reporting Guidelines
- Visiting Q-Park’s offices and sites other than the Q-Park NV’s Head Quarters in Maastricht.
LRQA’s responsibility is only to Q-Park NV. LRQA disclaims any liability or responsibility to others as explained in the end footnote. Q-Park‘s responsibility is for collecting, aggregating, analysing and presenting all the data and information within the Report and for maintaining effective internal controls over the systems from which the Report is derived. Ultimately, the Report has been approved by, and remains the responsibility of Q-Park NV.
LRQA’s Opinion
Based on LRQA’s approach nothing has come to our attention that would cause us to believe that Q-Park NV has not:
- Met the requirements above
- Disclosed accurate performance data and information
The opinion expressed is formed on the basis of a limited level of assurance and at the materiality of the professional judgement of the Verifier.
Note: The extent of evidence-gathering for a limited assurance engagement is less than for a reasonable assurance engagement. Limited assurance engagements focus on aggregated data rather than physically checking source data at sites.
LRQA’s Approach
LRQA’s assurance engagements are carried out in accordance with LRQA’s verification procedures. The following tasks though were undertaken as part of the evidence gathering process for this assurance engagement:
- Reviewing Q-Park NV’s process for identifying and determining material issues to confirm that the right issues were included in their Report. We did this by interviewing the responsible staff member and assessing the process used in determining material issues to evaluate whether Q-Park NV makes informed decisions that may create opportunities that contribute towards sustainable development.
- Assessing Q-Park NV’s approach to stakeholder engagement to confirm that issues raised by stakeholders were captured correctly. We did this through interviewing the responsible staff member and reviewing the documented records.
- Executing a strategic and risk analysis for determining potential risks and material issues to be sampled during the verification.
- Auditing and analysing Q-Park NV’s data management systems to confirm that there were no significant errors, omissions or misstatements in the Report. We did this by reviewing the effectiveness of data handling procedures, instructions and systems, including those for internal verification. We also spoke with those key people responsible for compiling the data and drafting the Report.
- Reviewing supporting evidence made available by Q-Park NV for the verification of the Report. Evidence was sampled only at Q-Park NV’s Head Office at Maastricht in The Netherlands in accordance with our contract. Therefore we did not verify data back to its original sources, nor did we assess the accuracy and completeness of the data reported by individual locations or countries.
Observations
Further observations and findings, made during the assurance engagement, are:
- Stakeholder Inclusivity and Responsiveness:
- We are not aware of any key stakeholder groups that have been excluded from stakeholder engagement process. However, the process could be widened to include external stakeholders (other than subcontractors) and address their concerns as well as including Q-Park NV’s response in the Report. This is also beneficial for the GRI G4 implementation process.
- Materiality:
- We are not aware of any material issues concerning Q-Park NV’s sustainability performance that have been excluded from the Report. It should be noted that Q-Park NV has established its own criteria for determining which issue/aspect is material and which output is recorded in the Quintessence PI Protocol. Some of the definitions in the protocol must be defined further to ensure unambiguous interpretation.
- Reliability:
- Data management systems are considered to be well defined but if the data was not available, or incorrect, the data disclosed in the Report is based on a recalculation with historical data. Reducing these omissions or errors will improve the reliability and accuracy of the Report for its readers. It is also recommended to further develop the internal control mechanisms to provide additional assurance.
LRQA’s Competence and Independence
LRQA ensures the selection of appropriately qualified individuals based on their qualifications, training and/or experience. The outcome of all verification and certification assessments is then internally reviewed by senior management to ensure that the approach applied is rigorous and transparent.
In 2013 LRQA provided Q-Park NV with a GAP assessment of their Quintessence monitoring and reporting process. This verification and the GAP assessment are the only work undertaken by LRQA for Q-Park NV and as such do not compromise our independence or impartiality.
Dated: 15 May 2014
Signed:
Wim Post
LRQA Lead Verifier
On behalf of Lloyd’s Register Nederland B.V.
K.P. van der Mandelelaan 41
3062 MB Rotterdam (The Netherlands)
LRQA Reference: RMC149903/0206
