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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

847848

registered interest
date	23/02/2018
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Aviation: Ukraine
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government why the UK is not a party to the Joint Investigation Team considering the downing of MH17 given the number of victims who were UK citizens.
tabling member printed	Baroness Falkner of Margravine
uin	HL5825
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/03/2018 answer text <p>The Metropolitan Police Service’s approach to overseas acts of terror where there are UK victims is that the crimes are usually best prosecuted by the national authorities where the attack occurred. However, while the UK is not part of the MH17 JIT, the Metropolitan Police Service has provided operational support to the JIT including direct liaison officer support and extensive victim identification support.</p><p>The Government cannot comment on the current investigation into the downing of MH17 and the establishment of a tribunal in the Netherlands, as we are unable to comment on ongoing investigations.</p> answering member printed Baroness Williams of Trafford grouped question UIN HL5826 question first answered 09/03/2018 11:18:01 answering member 4311 label Biography information for Baroness Williams of Trafford
tabling member	3670 label Biography information for Baroness Falkner of Margravine

847849

registered interest
date	23/02/2018
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Aviation: Ukraine
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 current investigation into the downing of MH17 and the establishment of a tribunal in the Netherlands.
tabling member printed	Baroness Falkner of Margravine
uin	HL5826
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/03/2018 answer text <p>The Metropolitan Police Service’s approach to overseas acts of terror where there are UK victims is that the crimes are usually best prosecuted by the national authorities where the attack occurred. However, while the UK is not part of the MH17 JIT, the Metropolitan Police Service has provided operational support to the JIT including direct liaison officer support and extensive victim identification support.</p><p>The Government cannot comment on the current investigation into the downing of MH17 and the establishment of a tribunal in the Netherlands, as we are unable to comment on ongoing investigations.</p> answering member printed Baroness Williams of Trafford grouped question UIN HL5825 question first answered 09/03/2018 11:18:01 answering member 4311 label Biography information for Baroness Williams of Trafford
tabling member	3670 label Biography information for Baroness Falkner of Margravine

847850

registered interest
date	23/02/2018
answering body	Northern Ireland Office
answering dept id	21
answering dept short name	Northern Ireland
answering dept sort name	Northern Ireland
hansard heading	Northern Ireland Government
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ascertain the wishes of the people of Northern Ireland on (1) the current political impasse over the restoration of a Northern Ireland Executive, and (2) the implications of leaving the European Union; and whether those issues will be discussed through the establishment of a Civic Forum, as provided for under the Good Friday Agreement.
tabling member printed	Lord Hylton
uin	HL5827
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/03/2018 answer text <p>The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and her Ministerial team regularly meet the people of Northern Ireland, and with business and civic leaders, to hear their views about a range of issues. But we are clear that this is no substitute for a fully functional power-sharing Executive in place to represent the people of Northern Ireland and to advocate for the issues that matter to them.</p><p>The Government is fully committed to ensuring that, as the UK leaves the EU, the unique interests of Northern Ireland are protected and advanced. That is why we continue to work towards the resumption of stable devolved government. The UK Government will continue to advocate for Northern Ireland’s interests and needs at the heart of government.</p><p>The Belfast Agreement, the 1998 Northern Ireland Act, and all subsequent political agreements are clear that decisions about the Civic Forum are a devolved matter for the Executive and the Assembly.</p> answering member printed Lord Duncan of Springbank question first answered 08/03/2018 12:17:58 answering member 4686 label Biography information for Lord Duncan of Springbank
tabling member	2018 label Biography information for Lord Hylton

847851

registered interest
date	23/02/2018
answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept id	16
answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
hansard heading	Developing Countries: Rule of Law
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, following their grant to Tunisia, they plan to provide support, either in the form of funding or professional help, to assist with (1) upholding the rule of law, (2) ensuring the independence of the judiciary, (3) due process in criminal investigations and the prosecution of suspects, and (4) the establishment of land registers and adequate title to properties, in post-conflict and developing states.
tabling member printed	Lord Hylton
uin	HL5828
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/03/2018 answer text <p>Strengthening justice systems around the world, particularly in developing countries and those affected by conflict, is essential to combating global poverty and addresses a root cause of instability, thereby building safer communities.</p><p>The UK is providing over £10 million in programme support to Tunisia this financial year. We plan to deliver more next year. The rule of law and protection of human rights are central to that work. The Crown Prosecution Service has deployed a Criminal Justice Advisor to Tunis to help build the capacity of prosecutors, investigators and the judiciary. We also fund projects to help the Tunisian authorities translate commitments in their constitution into effective legislation. We are not currently funding work on property rights in Tunisia, though we recognise the importance of making progress in this area.</p> answering member printed Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon question first answered 12/03/2018 12:48:29 answering member 4210 label Biography information for Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
tabling member	2018 label Biography information for Lord Hylton