Asked by: Baroness Bowles of Berkhamsted (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Callanan on 21 June (HL866), whether they have asked Mike Ashley whether he had any involvement in the recruitment of Seema Jamil O’Neill from KPMG to the staff of the UK Accounting Standards Board while he was a member of that Board and a partner at KPMG; and if not, whether they will now do so.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
As noted in my response for HL866 on 21 June, the UK Endorsement Board Secretariat provides an administrative role with no executive function so staff in the Secretariat should not be subject to parliamentary questions about their previous experience.
Asked by: Baroness Bowles of Berkhamsted (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Callanan on 21 June (HL866), why the position of Technical Director of the UK Endorsement Board is not an executive function of (1) the UK Endorsement Board, or (2) the Financial Reporting Council.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Secretary of State delegated statutory powers to the UK Endorsement Board. The Secretariat, including the Technical Director, have no decision-making powers. Their role is to provide technical advice to the UK Endorsement Board to support the delivery of its statutory functions. The UK Endorsement Board Secretariat is also ring-fenced from the Financial Reporting Council functions and is not involved in the decision-making of the Financial Reporting Council, nor do members of the Secretariat sit on the FRC’s Executive Committee.
Asked by: Baroness Bowles of Berkhamsted (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Callanan on 21 June (HL866), what was the process for the fair and open competitive recruitment for the position of Technical Director of the UK Endorsement Board; and when that appointment was made.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
All members of the UK Endorsement Board’s Secretariat are FRC employees and are appointed following an open and transparent recruitment process as set out in the attached document taken from the FRC website.
Asked by: Baroness Bowles of Berkhamsted (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Callanan on 15 June (HL760), whether they will change the answer given to the original question, answered on 27 May (HL404), now that this later answer clarifies that the attachment of the January 2007 impact assessment to the answer (HL404) has no relevance to the question put.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
I refer the noble Baroness to the Government’s response to HL760, which supplements the Government’s response to HL404.
Asked by: Baroness Bowles of Berkhamsted (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Callanan on 15 June (HL760), why the UK Endorsement Board is missing from the Public Appointments Order in Council; and whether (1) the Commissioner for Public Appointments, and (2) the National Audit Office, have been made aware of that omission.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
As the UK Endorsement Board is not regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments, it does not appear on the Public Appointments Order in Council, which was last reviewed in 2019 – prior to the UK Endorsement Board being established. With the exception of the Chair, appointments to the UK Endorsement Board are made by the Chair, with the consent of Ministers rather than being full public appointments.
BEIS officials have not discussed the UK Endorsement Board with the Commissioner for Public Appointments and the National Audit Office. The Government undertakes to consult the Commissioner’s office to discuss whether to include the UK Endorsement Board in the Order.
Asked by: Baroness Bowles of Berkhamsted (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Callanan on 15 June (HL760), how many applications were received for the post of Chair of the UK Endorsement Board; how many candidates were invited for interview; what was the composition of the interview panel; when and where the announcement was made that Pauline Wallace had been reappointed; and whether they will place a copy of the candidate pack in the Library of the House.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Diversity summary
Of seven applications to the role of Chair of the UK Endorsement Board, two were female and five are male. A detailed split is as follows:
| Male | Female | BAME | With Disabilities | LGBT |
Total | 5 (71%) | 2 (29%) | 4 (57%) | 1 (14%) | 0 (0%) |
Panel Summary
As this campaign is still ongoing, no announcement on the successful candidate has been made.
There are no plans to place a copy of the candidate pack in the Libraries of the House.
Asked by: Baroness Bowles of Berkhamsted (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Callanan on 20 May (HL127), why the UK Endorsement Board website at 1 June 2022 made no reference to Mr Ashley’s career of 35 years at KPMG.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The profile of Mike Ashley on the UK Endorsement Board website sets out his career with KPMG. A copy of the profile is attached for reference. It is a matter for the UK Endorsement Board to decide what information they include on their website.
Asked by: Baroness Bowles of Berkhamsted (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Callanan on 20 May (HL127 and HL128), whether they asked Mike Ashley or Seema Jamil O’Neill for information when preparing their response; and if not, whether they will now do so.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The UK Endorsement Board secretariat provides an administrative role with no executive function so staff in the secretariat should not be subject to parliamentary questions about their previous experience. However, I can assure the noble Baroness that all members of the secretariat were recruited through fair and open competition.
The Government did not ask Mike Ashley for information in preparing its response to the previous questions. Officials contacted Mr Ashley during preparation of a response to this question and he informed officials that, to the best of his recollection, he was the KPMG audit engagement partner for years ending 31/12/2001 until 31/12/2004 inclusive.
Asked by: Baroness Bowles of Berkhamsted (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Callanan on 20 May (HL27) and 27 May (HL402), why the UK Endorsement Board has not interpreted its duties in SI 2019/685 by reference to the Companies Act 2006, given that section 11 of the Interpretation Act 1978 requires "Where an Act confers power to make subordinate legislation, expressions used in that legislation have, unless the contrary intention appears, the meaning which they bear in the Act."
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
SI 2019/685 was made under powers conferred by the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 and not the Companies Act 2006. Nevertheless, the Government is satisfied that the UK Endorsement Board has interpreted its statutory functions in accordance with the Companies Act and the provision in Section 11 of the Interpretation Act 1978 that is quoted in the question.
Asked by: Baroness Bowles of Berkhamsted (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Callanan on 1 June (HL473), what assessment they made of the duties of auditors set out the decision in Caparo Vs Dickman when providing that answer; and in particular, the part of the judgment which states "It is the auditors' function to ensure, so far as possible, that the financial information as to the company's affairs prepared by the directors accurately reflects the company's position in order, first, to protect the company itself from the consequences of undetected errors or, possibly, wrongdoing (by, for instance, declaring dividends out of capital)."
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government did not make an assessment in providing the Written Answer on 1 June 2022 to Question HL473. The interpretation of court judgements is not a matter for the Government, but for relevant regulators and the courts.