§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list the auditing firms criticised by his Department's inspectors since June 1979 but which have nevertheless been allowed to make accounting policy through their membership of the Accounting Standards Committee or its working parties; and how such firms have come to be represented on the committee.
§ Mr. RedwoodThose voting members of the Accounting Standards Committee (ASC) who are accountants are nominated on a personal basis by their professional body and appointed by the Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies, which has stipulated that they shall not regard themselves as delegates of sectional interests but shall be guided by the need to act in the general interests of the community and of the accountancy profession as a whole. Members of its working parties are appointed by the ASC itself.