§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will publish details of the oral and written comments made by his representative on the Auditing Practices Board in relation to the going concern exposure draft.
§ Mr. Neil HamiltonMy Department's representative on the Auditing Practices Board participates in its debates, but no verbatim record is kept and as a non-voting member he does not take a position when the board reaches its decisions. I have placed in the Library a copy of my Department's response to the board's exposure draft on going concern.
§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what priorities he has suggested to the Auditing Practices Board.
§ Mr. Neil HamiltonMy right hon. Friend has not suggested priorities to the Auditing Practices Board, but in October last year my Department's representative responded to a general invitation to board members to identify topics for early attention. Those suggested on behalf of the Department included illegal acts, going concern, the role and function of the audit, the auditing of computer-based systems, the relationship between international and United Kingdom auditing standards and guidance, and a programme for revising the existing, body of guidance, including the conversion of guidelines to standards.