§ Mr. SquireTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he will make a statement on the division of responsibility between the financial reporting review panel and his Department with regard to applications to the court for the revision of defective company accounts following the authorisation of the review panel for the purposes of section 245B of the Companies Act 1985.
§ Mr. RedwoodIt has been agreed with the financial reporting review panel that normally the panel will deal with the accounts of large public and private companies. The companies concerned are defined as public limited companies (PLCs) (except plcs which are subsidiaries in a small or medium-sized group), companies within a group headed by a PLC, and any company not qualifying as small or medium-sized as defined by section 247 of the Companies Act 1985 or of any company within a group which does not qualify as small or medium-sized as defined by section 249 of the Act. My Department will handle all other cases.
The review panel will examine departures from the accounting provisions of the Companies Act 1985 whether or not they involve departures from accounting standards. The Department will remain responsible for all complaints relating to the directors' report and summary financial statements.