§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the President of the Board of Trade on what date he first became aware that the going concern auditing guideline urged auditors to be passive.
§ Mr. Neil HamiltonI have noted, but do not necessarily accept, the hon. Member's view, from which I assume that he welcomes the exposure draft on this subject issued by the Auditing Practices Board on 12 May.
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§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the President of the Board of Trade under which parts of the Companies Acts company auditors owe a duty of care to individual shareholders.
§ Mr. Neil HamiltonThe question whether auditors owe a duty of care in respect of their functions under the Companies Acts, and to whom, is a matter for the common law. I refer the hon. Member to the judgment of the House of Lords in Caparo Industries plc v Dickman and others.
§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will produce proposals to amend the Partnership Act 1890 to require auditing firms to publish information about their affairs.
§ Mr. Neil HamiltonNo.
§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will appoint an independent commission to investigate the handling of auditor regulation by the recognised supervisory bodies.
§ Mr. Neil HamiltonNo.
§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the President of the Board of Trade which parts of the Companies Acts require auditors to inform shareholders on the effectiveness of internal controls.
§ Mr. Neil HamiltonThe expression "internal controls" does not appear in the Companies Acts. So far as company accounts are concerned, however, the duties of auditors set out in section 237 of the Companies Act 1985 include a requirement to report if they are of opinion that proper accounting records have not been kept by the company.
§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will propose legislation under which a company's auditors would be prevented from acting as receivers for that company.
§ Mr. Neil HamiltonNo.
§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make it his policy that his Department will offer no consultancy work to any auditing firm criticised in the inspectors' report for a period of at least five years after that report.
§ Mr. Neil HamiltonNo. However, in considering the appointment of auditing firms any criticisms which may have been made in this way will be taken into account.