Fixed-scope written review
One decision question. One agreed record set. One controlled written position.
A Decision-Basis Review tests what the agreed record supports at a stated cut-off for one defined use. The output is a source-linked File-Position Note — or a formal limitation where the record cannot support one position.
*Target begins after written scope acceptance, material acceptance and confirmation that the agreed review route is operational.
The review unit
The question and the file are bounded before analysis begins.
Decision / reliance point
The exact question the work is commissioned to clarify.
Cut-off
The date or controlled period against which the sources are read.
Record set
The agreed core sources; no silent expansion into an unlimited repository.
Intended use
The audience and downstream use the written position is prepared to support.
Process
Fit → Written Scope → Scope & Material Acceptance → Review & QA → Controlled Release
Fit
Check whether the requested written position is distinct, bounded and not already adequately produced by an accountable function.
Written Scope
Fix the question, cut-off, audience, intended use and proposed record boundary in writing.
Scope & Material Acceptance
Confirm the agreed source set, information route, commercial terms and the review route required for the intended use.
Review & QA
Trace source identity, authority, status and version path; preserve qualifications and contrary material; locate the first unsupported step.
Controlled Release
Issue the File-Position Note for the agreed audience and use, with the exact limit of support stated.
Possible outcomes
A valid review does not have to end in a clean “yes”.
Supportable
The agreed record supports one bounded position for the stated use.
Qualified / partial
The position is supportable only with stated conditions, exclusions or scope limits attached.
Unresolved
Competing or incomplete positions remain and must be carried explicitly.
Non-determinable
The agreed set does not establish the proposed statement at the cut-off.
The deliverable
What the File-Position Note contains.
Decision / reliance question
The exact question the note is permitted to answer.
Agreed cut-off
The date or controlled period against which the record is read.
Record boundary
The agreed source set; no silent expansion of the file universe.
Supported position
The narrowest position the agreed sources support.
Evidence basis
What each material source actually establishes for the stated question and use — and where the evidential role of that source does not extend.
Qualifications
Conditions, caveats or limitations that must travel with the position.
Changed / narrowed / displaced / coexisting positions
What later material changed, narrowed or displaced — and what earlier material remains valid for a different evidential purpose.
Contrary material
Sources that challenge or qualify the leading position.
Unresolved points
Missing, conflicting or non-determinable matters.
Exact limit of support
The first point at which the agreed record stops supporting the proposed statement.
Permitted use
The audience and use for which the note was prepared.
Source references
A traceable route back to the records supporting each material statement.
Professional hand-off
The note establishes the written starting point — not the downstream specialist conclusion.
Legal, technical, commercial, operational, assurance and expert judgements remain with the functions authorised and competent to make them.
No-duplication gate
First ask whether this position already exists.
If the same adequate source-supported position is already expressly owned, produced and appropriately reviewed for the same decision, cut-off, audience and intended use, no parallel RGRA review is required.
Forwardable brief
Corporate Decision-Basis Brief
A two-page explanation of the service, the review boundary, the deliverable and a public-record demonstration.
A practical first step
Start with a non-sensitive written fit check.
No confidential or full-file material is needed to determine whether the question fits the current RGRA mandate.