§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the President of the Board of Trade which auditing guidelines, issued by the Auditing Practices Committee while his Department was represented on it, urged auditors to be passive.
§ Mr. Neil HamiltonI do not accept the premise on which the hon. Member's question is based.
§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on the kind of auditing firms who will be exempt from monitoring by the recognised supervisory bodies as a result of the small company audit exemption proposals contained in the Chancellor's statement.
§ Mr. Neil HamiltonThe announcement by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 30 November 1993,Official Report, columns 934–35 does not affect the monitoring requirements for company auditors. Any individual or firm who chooses to remain a member of a recognised supervisory body and retain eligibility for appointment as a company auditor under the rules of that body will remain subject to the monitoring arrangements of that body.
§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will provide a list of the minutes of meetings of the Auditing Practices Board received by his representatives on that board.
§ Mr. Neil HamiltonMy Department's representative has received minutes of the meetings of the Auditing Practices Board which he attended on the following dates:
182Was justices of the peace, giving in each case the title of the post, any salary payable and the duration of the appoinment.
§ Mr. EggarThe table sets out the information available.
1991 1992 1993 3 July 14 January 12 January 9 September 11 February 9 February 15 October 10 March 9 March 3 December 13 April 19 April 19 May 11 May 30 June 8 June 28 July 13 July 8 September 21 September 25 September 12 October 15 October 16 November 24 November Minutes of the board's meetings may be obtained from the board's secretary.
§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the President of the Board of Trade whether he will seek to amend the regulation on non-audit fee disclosures so that companies will be required to give details of the non-audit services purchased from their auditors.
§ Mr. Neil HamiltonI have no plans to do so. The regulations already require companies to disclose in their annual accounts the amount of fees paid to their auditors and their associates for non-audit work.