Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Callanan on 4 July (HL1456) in which he said that “it was not in the public interest to commence a criminal investigation” against KPMG for the Silentnight insolvency, whether they will now publish the legal advice upon which that answer was based.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The legal advice is subject to legal professional privilege and therefore it is not appropriate to publish it.
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will introduce legislation requiring energy supply companies to ring-fence credit balances owed to customers.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Ofgem published a consultation on 20 June setting out their proposals for protecting customer credit balances, including a ringfencing mechanism.
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government (1) what is the total cost to date for their support for Bulb Energy, and (2) what estimate they have made of the final cost of that support.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government is working closely with the Energy Administrators to minimise any costs to the exchequer and billpayers. In the progress report to creditors on 15 June, the Energy Administrators confirmed that £901m has been drawn down to meet the cost of the Energy Administration to date.
The Energy Administrators estimated at the outset of the SAR that £1.7bn of Government finance would be required. The £1.7bn figure remains the overall facility limit. This is an estimate, and the final cost of the SAR could change in either direction given energy price volatility.
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will publish a table showing (1) the breakdown of the Supplier of the Last Resort (SOLR) levy, and (2) the amount that each customer pays for each component of that levy, through their energy bills.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The independent energy Regulator, Ofgem, is responsible for administering the SOLR process and sets the levy for how costs are recouped, following consultation with stakeholders. In February, Ofgem announced the level of the price cap for April 2022 which included £68 for supplier of last resort costs. More detail can be found on Ofgem’s website.
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - 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 2 November 2021 (HL3320) and 1 February (HL5516), what progress they have made in bringing criminal charges against KPMG's insolvency partner for misconduct during the Silentnight insolvency.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Insolvency Service has reviewed the evidence in this case, including the contents of the Financial Reporting Counsel’s Disciplinary Tribunal Report. A decision was reached that it was not in the public interest to commence a criminal investigation.
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will publish a table showing the number of (1) civil, and (2) criminal, prosecutions brought by the Insolvency Service against insolvency practitioners for abusive practices.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Insolvency Practitioners are regulated by Recognised Professional Bodies, which are monitored by the Insolvency Service. It publishes an annual review of Insolvency Practitioner regulation on Gov.Uk. which includes details of regulatory and disciplinary sanctions issued against Insolvency Practitioners. The most recent review was published in June 2022.
In 2021 the Recognised Professional Bodies revoked the licences of four Insolvency Practitioners following regulatory and disciplinary action.
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will investigate the incorporation of Rothschild Family Investment Management Company Limited, registered at Companies House on 9 June.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
We are unable to comment on individual cases.
The Registrar of Companies has no current powers to verify information properly delivered in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 or other enactments.
However, following extensive consultation over 2020 and 2021, the Government published on 28 February 2022 a detailed White Paper setting out far-reaching reforms to Companies House.
It is the Government’s intention to bring forward appropriate legislation early in this session of this Parliament.
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many companies registered in the UK with Companies House have a PO Box as their registered office address.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
As of 15 June 2022, there are 7,633 companies on the Register who have provided a current registered office address that contains a PO Box.
The Registrar of Companies has the power to set a company's registered office address to a default Companies House address where a statutory process to dispute the address is complete. This default address includes PO Box 4385, and as of 5 June 2022 there are 9,005 companies registered to this address.
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will publish the names of recipients of fines levied upon PWC and its audit partner by the Financial Reporting Council for failures in auditing the statutory accounts of Kier Group plc.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The fine imposed by the Financial Reporting Council against PWC LLP in respect of the audit of the accounts of Kier Group plc was £3.35 million, adjusted for aggravating/mitigating factors and admissions/early disposal to £1,959,750. The fine imposed against the Audit Engagement Partner, Jonathan Hook, was £90,000, adjusted for aggravating/mitigating factors and admissions/early disposal to £52,650.
As the FRC investigation was under the FRC’s Audit Enforcement Procedure, the fines are subject to the requirement in regulation 5(7) of the Statutory Auditors and Third Country Auditors Regulations 2016 that the Financial Reporting Council must pay them to the Secretary of State at BEIS for remittance to the exchequer.
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will publish the names of recipients of fines levied upon KPMG and its audit partners by the Financial Reporting Council for failures in auditing the statutory accounts of Rolls Royce.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The fine imposed by the Financial Reporting Council against KPMG LLP in respect of the audit of the accounts of Rolls Royce plc was £4.2 million, adjusted for admissions and early disposal to £3.375 million. The fine imposed against the Audit Engagement Partner, Anthony Sykes, was £150,000, adjusted for admissions and early disposal to £112,500.
As the FRC investigation was under the FRC’s Audit Enforcement Procedure, the fines are subject to the requirement in regulation 5(7) of the Statutory Auditors and Third Country Auditors Regulations 2016 that the Financial Reporting Council must pay them to the Secretary of State at BEIS for remittance to the exchequer.