§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list the names of the bodies to which complaints may be made about the behaviour and conduct of the recognised supervisory bodies.
§ Mr. RedwoodComplaints should be made to the body itself. Paragraph 12 of schedule 11 to the Companies Act 1989 requires a recognised supervisory body for company auditors to have effective arrangements for the investigation of complaints against the body in respect of matters arising out of its functions as a supervisory body. I would expect such arrangements to include independent or lay involvement in the investigation.
In addition, under the Act the Secretary of State will have a continuing role in ensuring that recognised supervisory bodies satisfy the criteria for recognition, and he would therefore have an interest in complaints about their behaviour and conduct.