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

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Henley on 22 May (HL7589), why the selection of firms for enforcement cases was not the subject of a public tender.

The Office for National Statistics concluded in December 2014 that the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) was a public body within central government. Up to that point the FRC determined its own policies on tender processes.

Since being confirmed as a public sector body the FRC has been working with the Department to review all internal processes and practices in order to ensure that they comply with managing public money guidance. Sir John Kingman’s review of the FRC will also consider the transparency and appropriateness of FRC’s procedures in all aspects of its activities.