Company Law Reform Bill [HL]

moved Amendment No. 511B: "Page 394, line 6, at end insert—" ““(   )   The order shall have the effect of making the body appointed under subsection (1) designated under section 5 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (c. 36) (further powers to designate public authorities).”” The noble Lord said: My Lords, I shall speak also to Amendment No. 511D. The purpose behind these amendments is to instil a deal of transparency into how the major accounting firms do their work. The public oversight body and its subsidiary organs, which consider audit quality in firms, do not publish individual reports. A composite report is published annually, which deals with the industry overall. It is averaged, because it takes the larger firms, the smaller firms and the medium-sized firms. Although there is some segregation, it is not a particularly useful document. In the combined code, recent amendments have introduced requirements for audit committees to take a view on the effectiveness of the external audit process. They have always taken a view on the effectiveness of the internal audit process. In so doing, it has been relatively easy for them to perform a review themselves or to go outside the body and commission a review from a third party. However, they have no means to access detailed information about the performance of their external auditors in the work of auditing. It is extremely important, from the point of view of the public interest, that such information be available. That is the purpose of Amendment No. 511D. The purpose of Amendment No. 511B is to create a level playing field for the work of the independent supervisor over the Comptroller and Auditor-General. I beg to move.