BT 2015 Annual Report Download - page 134

132 BT Group plc
Annual Report 2015
he hief ecutive and roup inance irector concluded that s
disclosure controls and procedures are also eective to ensure that the
inforation the copan is reuired to disclose in reports that it files
under the ecurities chane ct of 19 chane ct is recorded
processed suarised and reported within the tie periods specified
inthe s rules and fors.
he hief ecutive and roup inance irector have also provided the
certifications reuired b the arbanes-le ct.
,QWHUQDOFRQWURORYHUƬQDQFLDOUHSRUWLQJ
s anaeent is responsible for establishin and aintainin
adeuate internal control over financial reportin for the roup.
nternalcontrol over financial reportin is desined to provide
reasonable assurance reardin the reliabilit of financial reportin and
the preparation of financial stateents for eternal reportin purposes
in accordance with . anaeent conducted an assessent of
the eectiveness of internal control over financial reportin based on
the fraewor for internal control evaluation contained in the evised
uidance for irectors on the UK overnance ode published b the
inancial eportin ouncil the urnbull uidance.
ased on this assessent anaeent has concluded that at 1 arch
01 s internal control over financial reportin was eective.
here were no chanes in s internal control over financial reportin
that occurred durin 011 that have ateriall aected or are
reasonabl liel to have ateriall aected the roups internal control
over financial reportin. n sinificant deficienc as defined b the U
ublic opan ccountin versiht oard  in internal control
over financial reportin is reported to the
udit  is oittee .
ricewaterhouseoopers  which has audited the consolidated
financial stateents for 011 has also audited the eectiveness
of the roups internal control over financial reportin under uditin
tandard o.  of the .
Internal control and risk management
he oard is responsible for the roups sstes of internal control and
ris anaeent and for reviewin the eectiveness of those sstes
each ear. hese sstes are desined to anae rather than eliinate
the ris of failure to achieve business obectives an sste can
provide onl reasonable and not absolute assurance aainst aterial
isstateent or loss. he process in place for reviewin our sstes of
internal control includes procedures desined to identif and evaluate
failins and weanesses and in the case of an classed as sinificant
wehave procedures to ensure that necessar action is taen to reed
the failins.
he oard also taes account of sinificant social environental and
ethical atters that relate to s businesses and reviews s corporate
responsibilit polic annuall. he copans worplace practices
specific environental social and ethical riss and opportunities and
details of underlin overnance processes are dealt with in paes
0 to  in the Delivering our strategy section on paes  to .
e have enterprise-wide ris anaeent processes for identifin
evaluatin and anain the principal riss faced b the roup. hese
processes have been in place throuhout the ear and have continued
upto the date on which this docuent was approved. he processes
arein accordance with the urnbull uidance.
is assessent and evaluation tae place as an interal part of s
annual strateic plannin ccle. e have a detailed ris anaeent
process which identifies the e riss facin the roup each line of
business and our internal service unit  .
he e features of our enterprise-wide ris anaeent and internal
control process coverin financial operational and copliance controls
are
 enior eecutives collectivel review the roups e riss and
have created a roup is eister describin the riss owners
and itiation strateies. he roup is anel and the
Operating
oittee
review this before it is reviewed and approved b the oard
 he lines of business and   carr out ris assessents of their
operations create ris reisters relatin to those operations and ensure
that the e riss are addressed
 enior eecutives with responsibilit for aor roup operations report
uarterl their opinion on the eectiveness of the operation of internal
controls in their areas of responsibilit
 he roups internal auditors carr out continuin assessents of the
ualit of ris anaeent and control report to anaeent and
the
udit  is oittee on the status of specific areas identified
for iproveent and proote eective ris anaeent in the lines
of business and   and
 he
udit  is oittee  on behalf of the oard considers the
eectiveness of the roups internal control procedures durin the
financial ear. t reviews reports fro the internal and eternal auditors
and reports its conclusions to the oard. he
udit  is oittee
has carried out these actions for 011.
e have not dealt with oint ventures and associates which  does
not control as part of the roup ris anaeent process. he are
responsible for their own internal control assessent.
ur sinificant accountin policies are set out on paes 10 to 1.
heconsistent application of those policies is subect to onoin
verification throuh anaeent review and independent review
binternal and eternal auditors.
he processes supportin the preparation and consolidation of the
financial stateents have been docuented and are subect to annual
verification throuh the prorae of testin done b our internal
auditors. his serves to confir the operation of the internal controls
over financial reportin and copliance with the arbanes-le ct.
he
udit  is oittee reviews s published financial results
related disclosures and accountin udeents. he coittees
activities are set out on paes 101 to 10.
he oard has approved the foral stateent of atters which
are reserved to it for consideration approval or oversiht. t has
also approved the roups corporate overnance fraewor which
sets out the hih level principles b which  is anaed and the
responsibilities and powers of the
peratin oittee and the roups
senior eecutives. s part of this fraewor the developent and
ipleentation of certain powers relatin to roup-wide policies and
practices are reserved to identified senior eecutives.
Capital management and funding policy
he obective of our capital anaeent and fundin polic is to reduce
net debt while investin in the business supportin the pension fund
and pain proressive dividends.
he oard reviews the roups capital structure reularl. anaeent
proposes actions which reect the roups investent plans and ris
characteristics as well as the acro-econoic conditions in which
weoperate.