Independent Assurance Report

Independent Assurance Report to DCC plc

KPMG LLP was engaged by DCC plc (‘DCC’) to provide limited assurance over selected aspects of the DCC’s Sustainability Report for the year ended 31 March 2011 (‘the Report’).

This report is solely made to DCC in accordance with the terms of our engagement. Our work has been undertaken so that we might state to DCC those matters we have been engaged to state within this report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than DCC for our work, this report, or for the conclusions we have reached.

What was included in the scope of our assurance engagement?

Assurance scope		Level of assurance		Reporting and assurance criteria
Reliability of performance data for year ending 31 March 2011 marked with the symbol* on pages 48 and 49 of the Report.		Limited assurance		Relevant internal reporting guidelines for the selected environmental and safety performance data as set out on pages 47 and 50 of this report
DCC self-declared Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) application level on page 50 of the Report.		Limited assurance		G3 Sustainability Reporting Guidelines and application level requirements

The extent of evidence-gathering procedures for a limited assurance engagement is less than for a reasonable assurance engagement, and therefore a lower level of assurance is provided.

Which assurance standard did we use?

We conducted our work in accordance with ISAE 3000⁸, with a team of specialists in auditing environmental information and with experience in similar engagements. This standard requires that we comply with applicable ethical requirements, including independence requirements, and plan and perform the engagement to obtain limited assurance about whether the data is free from material misstatement.

Our conclusions are based on the appropriate application of the criteria outlined in the table above.

We conducted our engagement in compliance with the requirements of the IFAC Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants, which requires, among other requirements, that the members of the assurance team (practitioners) as well as the assurance firm (assurance provider) be independent of the assurance client, including not being involved in writing the Report. The Code also includes detailed requirements for practitioners regarding integrity, objectivity, professional competence and due care, confidentiality and professional behaviour. KPMG LLP has systems and processes in place to monitor compliance with the Code and to prevent conflicts regarding independence.

What did we do to reach our conclusions?

We planned and performed our work to obtain all the evidence, information and explanations that we considered necessary in relation to the above scope. Our work was limited to the following procedures using a range of evidence-gathering activities which are further explained below:

• Conducting interviews with management and other personnel at DCC, to understand the systems and methods in place during the year ended 31 March 2011;
• An evaluation of the design, existence and operation of the systems and methods used to collect, process and aggregate the selected performance data as well as testing the reliability of underlying data across a risk-based selection of nine sites, including at least one site from each of the business divisions, in the UK and Republic of Ireland, covering 75% of the data for each data set;
• Checking the content of the Report to ensure consistency with the GRI application level requirements of C+;
• A review of drafts of the Report to ensure there are no disclosures that are misrepresented or inconsistent with our findings.

What are our conclusions?

The following conclusions should be read in conjunction with the work performed and scope of our assurance engagement described above.

Nothing has come to our attention to suggest that the performance data marked with the symbol*, on pages 48 and 49, are not fairly stated, in all material respects in accordance with the relevant internal reporting guidelines for the selected environmental and safety performance data.

Nothing has come to our attention to suggest that DCC’s self-declaration of GRI application level C+ on page 50 is not fairly stated, in all material respects in accordance with the G3 Sustainability Reporting Guidelines.

Responsibilities

The Directors of DCC plc are responsible for preparing the Report and the information and statements within it. They are responsible for identification of stakeholders and material issues, for defining objectives with respect to sustainability performance, and for establishing and maintaining appropriate performance management and internal control systems from which reported information is derived.

Our responsibility is to express our conclusions in relation to the above scope.

Lynton Richmond for and on behalf of KPMG LLP Chartered Accountants London 9 May 2011

⁸International Standard on Assurance Engagements 3000: Assurance engagements other than Audits or reviews of Historical information, issued by the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board.