National Grid 2008 Annual Report Download - page 630

BOWNE INTEGRATED TYPESETTING SYSTEM
CRC: 49819
Name: NATIONAL GRID
Date: 17-JUN-2008 03:10:51.35Operator: BNY99999TPhone: [phone]Site: BOWNE OF NEW YORK
Y59930.SUB, DocName: EX-15.1, Doc: 16, Page: 105
Description: EXHIBIT 15.1
0/6301.00.00.00Y59930BNY
[E/O] EDGAR 2 *Y59930/301/6*
BOWNE INTEGRATED TYPESETTING SYSTEM
CRC: 49819
Name: NATIONAL GRID
Date: 17-JUN-2008 03:10:51.35Operator: BNY99999TPhone: [phone]Site: BOWNE OF NEW YORK
Y59930.SUB, DocName: EX-15.1, Doc: 16, Page: 105 Description: EXHIBIT 15.1
0/6301.00.00.00Y59930BNY
[E/O] EDGAR 2 *Y59930/301/6*
Table of Contents
Annual Report and Accounts 2007/08
113
Independent Auditors’ report to the Members
of National Grid plc
We have audited the consolidated and Company financial
statements (the ‘financial statements’) of National Grid plc
for the year ended 31 March 2008, which comprise the
consolidated income statement, the consolidated and
Company balance sheets, the consolidated cash flow
statement, the consolidated statement of recognised income
and expense, the Accounting policies and Company
accounting policies, the Adoption of new accounting
standards, the Notes to the consolidated financial
statements and the Notes to the Company financial
statements. These financial statements have been prepared
under the accounting policies set out therein. We have also
audited the information in the Directors’ Remuneration
Report that is described as having been audited.
Respective responsibilities of Directors
and auditors
The Directors’ responsibilities for preparing the Annual
Report and the consolidated financial statements in
accordance with applicable law and International Financial
Reporting Standards (IFRS) as adopted by the European
Union, and for preparing the Company financial statements
and the Directors’ Remuneration Report in accordance with
applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards
(United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice)
are set out in the Statement of Directors’ responsibilities.
Our responsibility is to audit the financial statements and the
part of the Directors’ Remuneration Report to be audited in
accordance with relevant legal and regulatory requirements
and International Standards on Auditing (UK and Ireland).
This report, includin
g
the opinion, has been prepared for and
only for the Company’s members as a body in accordance
with Section 235 of the Companies Act 1985 and for no
other purpose. We do not, in giving this opinion, accept or
assume responsibility for any other purpose or to any other
person to whom this report is shown or into whose hands it
may come save where expressly agreed by our prior
consent in writing.
We report to you our opinion as to whether the financial
statements give a true and fair view and whether the
financial statements and the part of the Directors’
Remuneration Report to be audited have been properly
prepared in accordance with the Companies Act 1985 and
whether, in addition, the consolidated financial statements
have been properly prepared in accordance with Article 4 of
the IAS Regulation. We also report to you whether in our
opinion the information given in the Directors’ Report is
consistent with the financial statements. The information
given in the Directors’ Report includes that specific
information presented in the Operatin
g
and Financial Review
and Corporate Governance section that is cross referred
from the principal activities, business review and future
developments section of the Directors’ Report.
In addition we report to you if, in our opinion, the Company
has not kept proper accounting records, if we have not
received all the information and explanations we require for
our audit, or if information specified by law regarding
Directors’ remuneration and other transactions is not
disclosed.
We review whether the Corporate Governance
statement reflects the Company’s compliance with the
nine provisions of the Combined Code
(2006) specified for our review by the Listing Rules of
the Financial Services Authorit
y
, and we re
p
ort if it
on internal control cover all risks and controls, or form an
opinion on the effectiveness of the group’s corporate
governance procedures or its risk and control procedures.
We read other information contained in the Annual Report
and consider whether it is consistent with the audited
financial statements. The other information comprises only
the items listed in the contents section of the Annual Report,
excluding the 2008 audited financial statements and the part
of the Directors’ Remuneration Report to be audited. We
consider the implications for our report if we become aware
of any apparent misstatements or material inconsistencies
with the financial statements. Our responsibilities do not
extend to any other information.
Basis of audit opinion
We conducted our audit in accordance with International
Standards on Auditing (UK and Ireland) issued by the
Auditing Practices Board. An audit includes examination, on
a test basis, of evidence relevant to the amounts and
disclosures in the financial statements and the part of the
Directors’ Remuneration Report to be audited. It also
includes an assessment of the significant estimates and
j
ud
g
ements made by the Directors in the preparation of the
financial statements, and of whether the accounting policies
are appropriate to the group’s and Company’s
circumstances, consistently applied and adequately
disclosed.
We planned and performed our audit so as to obtain all the
information and explanations which we considered
necessary in order to provide us with sufficient evidence to
give reasonable assurance that the financial statements and
the part of the Directors’ Remuneration Report to be audited
are free from material misstatement, whether caused by
fraud or other irregularity or error. In forming our opinion we
also evaluated the overall adequacy of the presentation of
information in the financial statements and the part of the
Directors’ Remuneration Report to be audited.
Opinion
In our opinion:
PricewaterhouseCoo
p
ers LLP
the consolidated financial statements give a true and fair
view, in accordance with IFRS as adopted by the
European Union, of the state of the group’s affairs as at
31 March 2008 and of its profit and cash flows for the
year then ended;
the consolidated financial statements have been
properly prepared in accordance with the
Companies Act 1985 and Article 4 of the IAS
Regulation;
the Company financial statements give a true and
fair view, in accordance with United Kingdom
Generally Accepted Accounting Practice, of the
state of the Company’s affairs as at 31
March 2008;
the Company financial statements and the part of
the Directors’ Remuneration Report to be audited
have been properly prepared in accordance with
the Companies Act 1985; and
the information given in the Directors’ Report is
consistent with the financial statements.