Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government, in the light of the findings set out in paragraphs 1024 and 1028 of the judgment of Bates and Others v the Post Office Ltd [2019] EWHC 3408 (QB), what plans they have to investigate the conduct of Ernst & Young in respect of their duties as auditors of the Post Office, under section 498(1) of the Companies Act 2006, regarding returns from Post Office branches.
Answered by Lord Offord of Garvel - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) is responsible for investigations of possible audit failures in cases of major public interest. The FRC is aware of possible questions as to the audit work conducted at the Post Office during the period in which issues arose with the Fujitsu Horizon system and is continuing to monitor developments in this case.
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether WH Smith, which used Horizon terminals in branches which provided postal services, was treated differently to ordinary sub-postmasters when there were discrepancies in their accounting.
Answered by Lord Offord of Garvel - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government does not hold this information. However, we will approach Post Office Limited on behalf of the Noble Lord and write when we have received a response.
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to introduce legislation to ensure that the statute of limitations does not prevent those affected by defects in the Post Office’s Horizon software from bringing litigation against any party associated with it.
Answered by Lord Offord of Garvel - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government are confident that the statute of limitations will not have the effect which the noble Lord's Question implies.
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they, or the Post Office, plan to sue its board of directors for breach of contract or their statutory or other duties.
Answered by Lord Offord of Garvel - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Until the Horizon Inquiry is completed, and all of the evidence is known, it would be premature to take action against anyone who may have been involved in the scandal.
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential for a conflict of interest in the appointment of Henry Staunton as Chair of the Post Office.
Answered by Lord Offord of Garvel - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Henry Staunton took up his post as Chair of Post Office on 1 December 2022. His appointment was made in accordance with the Governance Code for Public Appointments and was subject to successful completion of all routine pre-employment checks, including consideration of any conflicts of interest.
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they or the Financial Reporting Council has issued any guidance in relation to the duties of auditors under section 498(1)(a) of the Companies Act 2006.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Lainston - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Sections 498(1) and 498(2) of the Companies Act 2006 covering auditors' investigations as to accounting records require an auditor to report by exception if adequate accounting records have not been kept or returns for the audit of records have not been received from branches. International Standard on Auditing (UK) 700, issued by the Financial Reporting Council as the UK's standard setter, sets out an auditor's statutory responsibility to report on adequate accounting records.
Auditors should also consider technical guidance (01/11) issued by the Institute for Chartered Accountants in England and Wales on directors' duties as to accounting records.
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether any minister or official at the former department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy had any knowledge of, or involvement in, the attempt by lawyers for the Post Office to have Mr Justice Fraser removed from his role as judge in the case Bates and Others vs Post Office Ltd; and if so, when they first become aware of the Post Office's attempts.
Answered by Lord Offord of Garvel - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
These are matters for the statutory Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry. It would be wrong to prejudice its work.
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much the Treasury has received in fines from KPMG for audit failures at Carillion, and what consideration they have given to using these to support Carillion employees who lost some of their pension rights.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Lainston - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Fines imposed following investigations by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) under its Audit Enforcement Procedure (AEP) are required by law to be transferred to the Secretary of State and must be paid into the exchequer to be used to fund public expenditure generally.
The fines imposed under the AEP on KPMG and two former partners for audit failures at Carillion totalled £21,420,000 after settlement discounts.
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to make regulations under section 493 of the Companies Act 2006 to require public disclosure of the terms of audit appointment.
Answered by Lord Offord of Garvel - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government has no plans to make regulations under section 493 of the Companies Act 2006 to require public disclosure of the terms of auditor appointments.
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether, further to the factsheet published on 4 March 2022 which stated that the Register of Overseas Entities “will require anonymous foreign owners of UK property to reveal their real identities to ensure criminals cannot hide behind secretive chains of shell companies, setting a global standard for transparency”, and the implementation of the register on 1 August 2022, they will publish a table showing how many property owners have so far failed to reveal their real identities and the penalties levied upon them for failure to comply with the register’s requirements.
Answered by Earl of Minto - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
As of 7 September 2023, over 29,000 overseas entities have registered with Companies House. So far, over 1,200 warning notices have been issued to unregistered overseas entities. Warning notices are a pre-cursor to the imposition of a financial penalty. Financial penalties to the value of around £660,000 have so far been issued. The Government currently has no plans to publish a list of unregistered entities, or the penalties imposed on them. This would distract from the important compliance work currently being undertaken.