Earmarked pension scheme

We confirm, to the best of our knowledge and belief, and having made appropriate enquiries of other officials of the scheme, the following representations given to you in connection with your audit of the contributions payable to the scheme in accordance with the payment schedule for the year.

  1. We acknowledge as trustees our responsibility under the Pensions Act 1995 for ensuring the accuracy of the accounting records in respect of contributions received for active members of the scheme and for preparing the summary of contributions. All the accounting records have been made available to you for the purpose of your audit and all transactions undertaken by the scheme in respect of contributions have been properly reflected and recorded in the accounting records. All other records and related information and explanations, including minutes of all meetings of trustees, including sub-committees of trustees, and trustees and advisers held between the beginning of the accounting period and the date of this letter, have been made available to you.
  2. We confirm that the scheme meets the definition of an earmarked pension scheme in accordance with the Occupational Pension Scheme (Requirement to Obtain Audited Accounts and a Statement from the Auditor) 1996.
  3. We confirm that: 
    1. We acknowledge responsibility for the design and implementation of internal controls to prevent and detect fraud and error;
    2. We have disclosed to you the results of our assessment of the risk that the financial statements may be materially misstated as a result of fraud;
    3. We have disclosed to you our knowledge of fraud and suspected fraud affecting the entity involving:
      1. Management;
      2. Employees who have significant roles in internal control; and
      3. Others where the fraud could have a material effect on the financial statements; and
    4. We have disclosed to you our knowledge of any allegations of fraud, or suspected fraud, affecting the entity’s financial statements communicated by members, former members, employers, employees, former employees, analysts, regulators or others.
  4. All known, actual, or possible non-compliance with laws and regulations, together with the actual or contingent consequences which may arise therefrom have been disclosed to you.
  5. We have not made any reports to The Pensions Regulator nor are we aware of any such reports having been made by any of our advisors. We confirm that we are not aware of any late contributions or breaches of the payment schedule/schedule of contributions that have arisen which we considered did not require reporting under the easement introduced under The Occupational Pension Schemes (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2000. We also confirm that we are not aware of any other matters which have arisen that would require a report to The Pensions Regulator.
  6. There have been no other communications with the Pensions Regulator or other regulatory bodies during the scheme year or subsequently concerning matters of non-compliance with any administrative duty. We have drawn to your attention all correspondence and notes of meetings with regulators.
  7. We confirm that the scheme is a Registered Pension Scheme. We are not aware of any reason why the tax status of the scheme should change.
  8. The sponsoring employer has not disclosed any events which they believe will be of material significance to the trustees in the exercise of their functions.
  9. We confirm that, under section 27 of the Pensions Act 1995, no trustee of the scheme is connected with, or is an associate of, RSM UK Audit LLP, which would render RSM UK Audit LLP ineligible to act as scheme auditors.
  10. We confirm that as far as we are aware:
    • no services have been provided to us or our affiliated entities by RSM network firms and their related entities that we have not already informed you of;
    • no gifts, hospitality, favours, donations or sponsorship have been exchanged between us or our affiliated entities and RSM network firms and their related entities that we have not already informed you of;
    • no employment relationships exist between us or our affiliated entities and partners or employees of RSM network firms and their related entities we have not already informed you of; and
    • no other business or personal relationships exist between us or our affiliated entities and RSM network forms and their related entities we have not already informed you of.

The related entities of RSM network firms are as set out in the list provided.

We acknowledge our responsibility for the design, implementation and maintenance of internal control to prevent and detect fraud and error and we believe we have appropriately fulfilled those responsibilities.

We confirm that the above representations are made on the basis of enquiries of advisers and staff with relevant knowledge and experience (and, where appropriate, of inspection of supporting documentation) sufficient to satisfy ourselves that we can properly make each of the above representations to you.