The correct answer is B . PRINCE2 distinguishes quality control from quality assurance . Quality control consists of project-level activities used to examine products and determine whether their defined quality specifications and acceptance criteria have been achieved. Quality assurance, by contrast, provides confidence independently of the project that appropriate quality standards, policies, and procedures are being applied.

The scenario explicitly states that the portfolio office is operating independently of the LouisShopping project team and has been asked by the City Council to provide confidence that delivery will preserve the historic setting while incorporating the required technology. This is characteristic of independent quality assurance performed on behalf of the business layer.

Option A is incorrect because the portfolio office is not being asked to perform the project manager’s operational quality-control activities. Option C incorrectly restricts assurance information to the project board; the business layer may require independent assurance over projects it commissions or funds. Option D is also too restrictive. A portfolio office may support independent assurance of individual projects where organizational arrangements permit it.

The key distinction is independence: the activity provides organizational confidence in how quality is being managed rather than carrying out the project’s own product inspections and tests.

PRINCE2 7 reference topics: Quality practice; quality assurance; quality control; business layer; independence of assurance; organizational quality standards.

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