§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what rights the public has under the terms under which he has given recognition to the supervisory bodies(a) to know the findings of the bodies' monitoring activities and (b) to require the bodies to investigate complaints against auditing firms.
§ Mr. RedwoodThe recognised supervisory bodies' monitoring reports on individual auditing firms are intended to be internal documents. However, I understand that the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants proposes to include in its annual report a report of its monitoring unit, and the other bodies are considering what information to publish. It was a precondition for recognition that the supervisory bodies had effective arrangements for the investigation of complaints, details of which are readily available from the bodies.
§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he has any plans to propose legislation under which any member of the public will have a right to know shortcomings in auditing firms discovered by the recognised supervisory bodies.
§ Mr. RedwoodNo.