§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he will propose legislation under which accountancy firms would be prevented from writing up board minutes and then auditing the same.
§ Mr. RedwoodI see no reason to do so. Under existing legislation, a person who is an officer of a company—or a partner or employee of an officer—is prohibited from being appointed an auditor of the company. Moreover, under the Companies Act 1989 the Secretary of State will be able to recognise a supervisory body for auditors only if the body appears to him to have adequate rules and practices designed to ensure that company audit work is conducted properly and with integrity, and that persons are not appointed as company auditors in circumstances in which they have any interest likely to conflict with the proper conduct of the audit.