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

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the opening of an office in Brussels by the Financial Reporting Council for lobbying activity was authorised by the Cabinet Office as required by the restrictions placed on non-departmental public bodies by the rules set by the Cabinet Office; and if so, when.

The Financial Reporting Council operates an office in Brussels in order to support its work as the designated competent authority for audit in the UK and on accounting regulation. The then Department for Business, Innovation and Skills was informed of the decision to open the office when it was established.

Up until December 2014 the Financial Reporting Council’s status as a public body within central government was pending review by the Office of National Statistics. The Brussels office was established in 2012.