§ Miss HoeyTo ask the President of the Board of Trade, (1) what assessment he has made of the quality of auditors reports of public limited companies in England; and if he will make a statement; [25736]
(2) what is the supervisory role of this Department over the quality of reports made by auditors in public limited companies' annual reports with special reference to football clubs. [25737]
§ Mr. OppenheimCompany auditors and the conduct of company audit work for all companies, including those that are football clubs, are governed by the provisions of part H of the Companies Act 1989, which aims to ensure that audits are carried out only by persons who are properly supervised and appropriately qualified, and that such audits are carried out with integrity and with a proper degree of independence. Using the criteria set down in part II, five professional accountancy bodies—recognised supervisory bodies—have been recognised for the purposes of monitoring, inspecting, supervising and disciplining registered company auditors. These bodies are in turn responsible to me for the way in which they operate this self-regulatory regime, and are required to submit to me annual reports on audit regulation.