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847842

registered interest
date	23/02/2018
answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept id	201
answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
hansard heading	Company Accounts
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government for what reason, and by whose advice, the overriding true and fair view requirement of sections 226(2) and 227(3) was taken out of the Companies Act 1985 on the implementation of International Accounting Standards; why this was then reinstated as section 393 of the Companies Act 2006, and by whose advice; when section 393 of the Companies Act 2006 come into effect; and for what years that requirement was absent.
tabling member printed	Baroness Bowles of Berkhamsted
uin	HL5819
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/03/2018 answer text <p>The Companies Act 1985 (International Accounting Standards and Other Accounting Amendments) Regulations 2004 introduced the amendments to the Companies Act 1985 needed to provide for the application of the International Accounting Standards Regulation. The regulations commenced on 1 January 2005. The Companies Act 2006 introduced section 393, which commenced on 6 April 2008.</p><p> </p><p>The 2004 regulations gave effect to the EU’s International Accounting Standards Regulation, which introduced the requirement to prepare accounts using EU adopted International Accounting Standards (IAS). The EU Regulation did not include the requirement that IAS accounts should give a “true and fair” view. The Regulation instead relies upon the fact that the framework supporting the standards requires a “fair presentation” of the company’s finances; that it does not require strict conformity with every technical accounting requirement in the accounting Directives; and that the auditor’s report should state whether the accounts give a true and fair view.</p><p> </p><p>The Companies Act 2006 consolidated the requirements of the Companies Act 1985 and the amendments to it and restated and reformed the requirements on the preparation of accounts. In line with the recommendations of the company law review following public consultation, the Companies Act 2006 introduced the “true and fair” requirement for all accounts in section 393.</p><p> </p><p>I am unable to provide further explanation of the Government’s justification in 2004 for not having also included an overarching requirement that IAS accounts must give a true and fair view. It is an established convention that Minsters of one administration cannot see the documents of a previous administration. I am therefore unable to provide the information requested by the noble Baroness.</p> answering member printed Lord Henley question first answered 05/03/2018 15:26:39 answering member 2616 label Biography information for Lord Henley
tabling member	4562 label Biography information for Baroness Bowles of Berkhamsted

847843

registered interest
date	23/02/2018
answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept id	201
answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
hansard heading	Financial Reporting Council
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Henley on 21 February (HL5518), when each director of the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) was informed that the FRC was a public body; how they were informed, and how this was documented; whether they will place in the Library of the House letters of appointment for each director at the date of each appointment, rather than the recent general letter of appointment dated 30 January; and whether they will set out how a public body can operate as a public body if the public has not been informed that it is a public body.
tabling member printed	Baroness Bowles of Berkhamsted
uin	HL5820
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/03/2018 answer text <p>The terms of appointment for each director of the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) mirror the terms of appointment placed into the Library of the House for my answer HL5518. I will ask the FRC to provide the letters of appointment for each director and will place these in the Libraries of the House in due course with appropriate redactions.</p><p> </p><p>The classification of the FRC in 2004 and the further considerations by the Office for National Statistics up to 2014 were published. The FRC is included in the whole of Government accounts pursuant to legislation.</p> answering member printed Lord Henley question first answered 05/03/2018 15:27:17 answering member 2616 label Biography information for Lord Henley
tabling member	4562 label Biography information for Baroness Bowles of Berkhamsted

847844

registered interest
date	23/02/2018
answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept id	201
answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
hansard heading	Financial Reporting Council
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Henley on 20 February (HL5467), whether the Financial Reporting Council changed the wording after my question (HL4627) was tabled on 11 January; and why the Written Answer by Lord Henley on 1 February (HL5095) referred to a position with future effect, not the past and present position.
tabling member printed	Baroness Bowles of Berkhamsted
uin	HL5821
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/03/2018 answer text <p>The fact sheet <ins class="ministerial">attached to the</ins> <del class="ministerial">placed into the Libraries of the House in</del> response <ins class="ministerial">given</ins> to question HL5095 used the word “requested” and is dated June 2017.</p><p> </p><p>My answer to question HL5095 stated the position as of 1<sup>st</sup> February 2018.</p> answering member printed Lord Henley question first answered 05/03/2018 15:27:58 question first ministerially corrected 26/03/2018 15:35:43 answering member 2616 label Biography information for Lord Henley previous answer version 44560 answering member printed Lord Henley answering member 2616 label Biography information for Lord Henley
tabling member	4562 label Biography information for Baroness Bowles of Berkhamsted

847845

registered interest
date	23/02/2018
answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept id	201
answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
hansard heading	Company Accounts
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Henley on 12 February (HL5280), what were the circumstances that led to the UK voluntarily adopting International Accounting Standards (IAS) for separate, company-only, accounts by invoking the option under Article 5 of the IAS Regulation 2001; and whether, prior to the UK invoking that option, the Financial Reporting Council or Department for Trade and Industry had anticipated the difficulties that this option would create for the use of separate accounts for capital maintenance purposes.
tabling member printed	Baroness Bowles of Berkhamsted
uin	HL5822
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/03/2018 answer text <p>The Department for Trade and Industry consulted on the adoption of “International Accounting Standards” in 2002 (URN 2002/1158). The consultation considered whether the UK should exercise the Member State option under Article 5 of the IAS Regulation and, in particular, whether to extend the application of the Regulation to the individual accounts of publicly traded companies.</p><p> </p><p>The consultation stated that:</p><p> </p><p>“There may be good reasons to exercise this option in order to help internal consistency and comparability of accounts within the same group and assist in preparation of consolidated accounts. There is the additional advantage that the current practice of presenting entity financial statements of the parent with the group accounts as one package could continue. With no extension the practice would probably have to change, as it would be cumbersome and confusing to have to explain two different bases of preparation. We estimate that this would affect around 2700 companies.”</p><p> </p><p>The Government considered the responses to the consultation and conducted a full assessment of the costs and benefits of the various approaches to implement the IAS Regulation. Following this consideration the Government concluded that it would implement the option in the regulation, including to extend the application of the Regulation to the individual accounts of publicly traded companies.</p><p> </p><p>The Companies Act 1985 (International Accounting Standards and Other Accounting Amendments) Regulations 2004 (SI 2004 / 2947) provided for the application of the International Accounting Standards Regulation. The impact assessment accompanying the regulations sets out the Government’s assessment of the costs and benefits. It concluded that the Governments resulting policy on taking up the option in Article 5 overall had the following benefits:</p><p> </p><p>“Parent companies and building societies and subsidiaries in groups will be able to prepare their accounts to one framework of accounting standards. Companies and building societies that do business or seek capital across borders would be able to prepare their accounts to adopted IAS for ease of comparison. Comparability of accounts will assist, shareholders, analysts and other users of accounts.”</p> answering member printed Lord Henley question first answered 05/03/2018 15:29:38 answering member 2616 label Biography information for Lord Henley
tabling member	4562 label Biography information for Baroness Bowles of Berkhamsted

847846

registered interest
date	23/02/2018
answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept id	201
answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
hansard heading	Banks: Company Accounts
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government when the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) first became aware of any problems with International Accounting Standards for the capital adequacy of particular banks; by what means the FRC found out about such problems; which banks any such problems applied to; and how the FRC responded to any identified problems.
tabling member printed	Baroness Bowles of Berkhamsted
uin	HL5823
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/03/2018 answer text <p>The Prudential Regulation Authority is responsible for regulation of the capital adequacy of banks. Prior to 2013 this was the responsibility of the Financial Services Authority. The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) was not aware of the contribution that certain features of the International Accounting Standards made to the problem of the capital adequacy of the banks until the problem was a matter of public knowledge. The FRC has engaged with UK Government, Europe, internationally, and with the International Accounting Standards Board since then to develop reforms to the standards, which address the concerns that have been identified.</p> answering member printed Lord Henley question first answered 05/03/2018 15:40:59 answering member 2616 label Biography information for Lord Henley
tabling member	4562 label Biography information for Baroness Bowles of Berkhamsted

847847

registered interest
date	23/02/2018
answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept id	201
answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
hansard heading	Company Accounts
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Henley on 12 February (HL5214), on which issues does the Financial Reporting Council now accept the position set out by Mr Bompas QC; and in particular whether section 831 of the Companies Act 2006 is one such issue.
tabling member printed	Baroness Bowles of Berkhamsted
uin	HL5824
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/03/2018 answer text <p>As stated in the reply given to the noble Baroness on 12<sup>th</sup> February 2018 to question HL5214, the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) sought advice on a range of matters from Martin Moore QC and accepted the advice it received. This includes the advice relating to the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 that determines distributable profits. Section 831 forms part of those requirements. The FRC has not changed its views on those matters.</p> answering member printed Lord Henley question first answered 05/03/2018 15:30:45 answering member 2616 label Biography information for Lord Henley
tabling member	4562 label Biography information for Baroness Bowles of Berkhamsted

847868

registered interest
date	23/02/2018
answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept id	201
answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
hansard heading	Paternity Leave
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what are the main elements of the campaign to encourage more fathers to take shared parental leave; and what is the take-up target.
tabling member printed	Baroness Lister of Burtersett
uin	HL5845
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/03/2018 answer text <p>The Shared Parental Leave (SPL) campaign is jointly sponsored by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and the Government Equalities Office.</p><p> </p><p>It involves advertising online, on posters in rail stations, bus shelters and on roadsides and in some print publications, driving to a website <a href="http://www.gov.uk/sharetheleave" target="_blank">www.gov.uk/sharetheleave</a> which contains more information and links to guidance on the policy. We are also working with key stakeholders and using PR to communicate our messages to both parents and their employers.</p><p> </p><p>The aim of the campaign is to increase awareness of SPL and encourage more parents to discuss this with their partners and employers. We are not able to set a target for take up of shared parental leave as this data is not collected or reported on by employers.</p> answering member printed Lord Henley question first answered 05/03/2018 15:06:13 answering member 2616 label Biography information for Lord Henley
tabling member	4234 label Biography information for Baroness Lister of Burtersett

846842

registered interest
date	22/02/2018
answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept id	201
answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
hansard heading	Nuclear Safeguards
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what new or modified information technology systems are required for the UK nuclear safeguarding authority to be approved by the International Atomic Energy Agency; and what are the estimated costs of developing those systems.
tabling member printed	Lord Teverson
uin	HL5804
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/03/2018 answer text <p>To deliver a domestic safeguards regime, generally referred to as a State System of Accountancy for and Control of Nuclear Materials (SSAC), the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) plans to put in place a Safeguards Information Management and Reporting System (SIMRS). The SIMRS will enable the ONR to obtain and process the information necessary to ensure timely submission to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of the reports required by any future safeguards agreements with the IAEA. The SIMRS will also enable submission of any specific reports required by supplier states as part of Nuclear Cooperation Agreements (NCAs).</p><p>ONR has estimated that it will cost £10 million to establish a UK SSAC and SIMRS is included as a part of this overall estimate. An initial tender opportunity in relation to the SIMRS is currently being advertised on the Government Digital Marketplace and responses to that tender will provide more certainty on estimated costs.</p> answering member printed Lord Henley question first answered 05/03/2018 15:32:52 answering member 2616 label Biography information for Lord Henley
tabling member	3789 label Biography information for Lord Teverson

846662

registered interest
date	21/02/2018
answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept id	201
answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
hansard heading	Insolvency
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government when they intend to publish a full response to the feedback they received on their Review of the Corporate Insolvency Framework consultation, published in May 2016.
tabling member printed	Baroness Burt of Solihull
uin	HL5717
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/03/2018 answer text <p>In May 2016 the Government published its Review of the Corporate Insolvency Framework consultation. The consultation contained a package of proposals to improve the rescue opportunities for financially-distressed companies in Great Britain.</p><p> </p><p>A summary of responses to the consultation was published in September 2016.</p><p> </p><p>Following the publication of the summary of responses, the Government has continued to engage with a range of interested parties to further discuss and explore issues raised in responses to the consultation. This further engagement will ensure that any reforms, if necessary, will be fit for purpose and best achieve the Government’s aims of rescuing distressed but viable businesses, therefore preserving both value and jobs.</p><p> </p><p>The Government recognises the importance of the insolvency and restructuring regime to the wider UK economy and the important role it plays in, amongst other things, creating strong conditions for growth and access to credit. The consultation stage impact assessment is available from <a href="http://www.gov.uk/" target="_blank">www.gov.uk</a>.</p><p> </p><p>A full response to the consultation will be published later this year.</p> answering member printed Lord Henley grouped question UIN HL5718 question first answered 05/03/2018 15:32:02 answering member 2616 label Biography information for Lord Henley attachment 1 file name Attachment to HL5718.pdf title Impact Assessment
tabling member	1567 label Biography information for Baroness Burt of Solihull

846663

registered interest
date	21/02/2018
answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept id	201
answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
hansard heading	Insolvency
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential economic benefits of introducing reforms of the UK’s corporate insolvency framework.
tabling member printed	Baroness Burt of Solihull
uin	HL5718
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/03/2018 answer text <p>In May 2016 the Government published its Review of the Corporate Insolvency Framework consultation. The consultation contained a package of proposals to improve the rescue opportunities for financially-distressed companies in Great Britain.</p><p> </p><p>A summary of responses to the consultation was published in September 2016.</p><p> </p><p>Following the publication of the summary of responses, the Government has continued to engage with a range of interested parties to further discuss and explore issues raised in responses to the consultation. This further engagement will ensure that any reforms, if necessary, will be fit for purpose and best achieve the Government’s aims of rescuing distressed but viable businesses, therefore preserving both value and jobs.</p><p> </p><p>The Government recognises the importance of the insolvency and restructuring regime to the wider UK economy and the important role it plays in, amongst other things, creating strong conditions for growth and access to credit. The consultation stage impact assessment is available from <a href="http://www.gov.uk/" target="_blank">www.gov.uk</a>.</p><p> </p><p>A full response to the consultation will be published later this year.</p> answering member printed Lord Henley grouped question UIN HL5717 question first answered 05/03/2018 15:32:02 answering member 2616 label Biography information for Lord Henley attachment 1 file name Attachment to HL5718.pdf title Impact Assessment
tabling member	1567 label Biography information for Baroness Burt of Solihull