Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate his Department has made of the number of auditors required to extend the definition of public interest entities under the proposals set out in their consultation on restoring trust in audit and corporate governance.

The Government is carefully considering the responses to the White Paper on ‘Restoring trust in audit and corporate reporting’, including on proposals to extend the definition of public interest entities to bring large private businesses which are of significant public interest in scope of higher standards of transparency and oversight.

The Government will respond in due course, and will publish its assessment of audit market capacity to deliver reforms in the final impact assessment.