Tesco 2013 Annual Report Download - page 72

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68 Tesco PLC Annual Report and Financial Statements 2013
General information continued
Political and charitable donations Cash donations to charities in
the financial year amounted to £22,185,062 (2011/12: £25,646,209).
Total contributions to community projects including cash, cause-
related marketing, gifts-in-kind, staff time and management costs
amounted to £78,152,071 (2011/12: £74,588,818).
There were no political donations in the financial year (2011/12: £nil).
During the year, the Group made contributions of £33,583 (2011/12:
£28,137) in the form of sponsorship for political events: Conservative
Party £11,210; Labour Party £11,452; Liberal Democrat Party £6,921;
Scottish National Party £4,000.
Supplier payment policy Tesco PLC is a signatory to the Prompt
Payment Code in the UK. More information about the Code can
be found at www.promptpaymentcode.org.uk. Payment terms and
conditions are agreed with suppliers in advance and the Group pays
its creditors in accordance with those terms. Payment terms vary
according to the type of product and territory in which the suppliers
operate. Tesco PLC is a holding company and therefore has no trade
creditors on its Balance Sheet.
Compliance with the Groceries (Supply Chain Practices) Market
Investigation Order 2009 and the Groceries Supply Code of
Practice (‘Code’) The Code places obligations on grocery retailers
with a turnover greater than £1 billion to maintain a Code compliance
programme, which includes training staff and providing information
to the Office of Fair Trading. In addition, the Code sets out a number
of provisions which relate to different aspects of the relationship
between a retailer and supplier.
We are committed to treating our suppliers fairly and work in
collaboration with them wherever possible. It is in our nature to treat
compliance with the Code very seriously.
We have in place a Code Compliance Officer (‘CCO’) supported by
a compliance team including a dedicated Code auditor. We have an
audit plan and our approach enables us to identify any gaps in our
processes so they can be quickly fixed.
We also have in place an ongoing compliance training programme
for our buying teams, and a comprehensive training course is
provided for relevant new starters. We identified some non-compliance
with the Code this year relating to the training of some new starters
within the period mandated by the Code. We responded immediately
by ensuring that all relevant personnel were trained by year end and
further strengthened internal processes to ensure that all starters are
trained within Code timelines. Annual refresher training is provided
via a bespoke e-learning programme and our training processes in
this regard were fully Code-compliant.
All alleged breaches of the Code raised by suppliers this year have
been dealt with internally. We have had one instance of a supplier
initiating the Dispute Resolution Procedure set out in the Code.
This dispute was resolved quickly.
The CCO regularly reports to the Audit Committee, which considers
that it retains effective oversight of our compliance with the Code.
Going concern The Directors consider that the Group and the
Company have adequate resources to remain in operation for the
foreseeable future and have therefore continued to adopt the going
concern basis in preparing the financial statements.
Events after the Balance Sheet date There were no material events
after the Balance Sheet date.
Auditors A resolution to reappoint PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
as auditors of the Company and the Group will be proposed at the
2013 AGM.
Directors’ statement of disclosure of information to auditors
Having made the requisite enquiries, the Directors in office at the
date of this Annual Report and Financial Statements have each
confirmed that, so far as they are aware, there is no relevant audit
information (as defined by Section 418 of the Companies Act 2006)
of which the Group’s auditors are unaware, and each of the Directors
has taken all the steps he/she ought to have taken as a Director to
make himself/herself aware of any relevant audit information and
to establish that the Group’s auditors are aware of that information.
This confirmation is given and should be interpreted in accordance
with the provisions of Section 418 of the Companies Act 2006.
By order of the Board
Jonathan Lloyd Company Secretary
1 May 2013