Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North East Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans he has to bring forward legislative proposals to reform of the statutory audit market in the current session of Parliament.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Competition and Markets Authority study of the statutory audit market made a series of far-reaching and ambitious recommendations. Our intention is to set out our comprehensive proposals in the coming months, seeking views on them where the Government has not already done so. We will then consider bringing forward legislation in due course.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North East Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the (a) guidance and (b) eligibility criteria are for the covid-19 Business Interruption Loan Scheme.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) is now live.
Eligible businesses can apply for a loan or other form of finance through one of 40-plus providers accredited by the British Business Bank to offer the scheme. These include all the major UK banks.
The application process is typically online for smaller amounts and the lending decision is made by the provider concerned.
Full guidance, including eligibility criteria, is available on the British Business Bank website at www.british-business-bank.co.uk/cbils.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North East Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the effect of covid-19 on sole traders; and what steps he is taking to support sole traders with reduced income during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
In order to help UK businesses during the Coronavirus outbreak, we have made an unprecedented level of support available in the form of cash grants and business loans.
The Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS), delivered by the British Business Bank, is now available for eligible smaller businesses including unincorporated businesses, such as partnerships and sole traders. Decision-making on whether a business is eligible to access CBILS will be fully delegated to the 40+ accredited lenders. The Scheme covers overdrafts, loans, asset finance, and invoice finance. Full guidance, including eligibility criteria, will be published at: www.british-business-bank.co.uk/cbils.
In addition, HMRC have set up a tax helpline on 0800 0159 559 to support and advise businesses and self-employed people concerned about missing tax commitments due to Coronavirus. Further detail on the Government’s support package for businesses is at: www.businesssupport.gov.uk/coronavirus-business-support/
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North East Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the number of business start-ups in (a) North East Bedfordshire constituency, (b) Bedfordshire and (c) the UK in each year since 2010.
Answered by Paul Scully
The table below provides ONS data on new business registrations for VAT and/or PAYE (ONS Business Demography 2018 – Enterprise births, deaths and survivals).
Notes:
1) Timeseries data for business births is not available at Parliamentary Constituency level but we can provide figures as below for the three districts which make up Bedfordshire.
2) Data is not available for periods earlier than 2013 or later than 2018.
Year | UK | Bedfordshire (county) | Bedford (district) | Central Bedfordshire (district) | Luton (district) |
2013 | 346275 | 3450 | 875 | 1540 | 1035 |
2014 | 350305 | 3560 | 870 | 1550 | 1140 |
2015 | 382755 | 3990 | 980 | 1585 | 1425 |
2016 | 413900 | 10370 | 1065 | 4865 | 4440 |
2017 | 381885 | 4915 | 925 | 2245 | 1745 |
2018 | 380580 | 4710 | 910 | 2200 | 1600 |
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North East Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans he has to implement the recommendations of the Independent Review of Consumer Protection Measures concerning online secondary ticketing facilities.
Answered by Margot James
The Government is considering Professor Waterson’s Review and will publish its response in due course.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North East Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many apprentices enrolled on a Level 7 (Master's) apprenticeship for (a) 2015-16 and (b) 2016-17.
Answered by Nick Boles
Information on Apprenticeship starts by level reported to date for 2015/16 is published as a supplementary table (first link) to a Statistical First Release (second link). There have currently been no starts reported to date at Level 7.
The first publication containing 2016/17 data will be published in January 2017.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North East Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, for what reasons the Government is not proceeding with joint auditing or increased tendering in its transposition of EU Regulation No. 537/2014 on statutory auditing of public-interest entities.
Answered by Anna Soubry
The Government does intend to implement provisions relating to increased tendering as part of the implementation of the EU Audit Regulation and Directive. This is in line with the recommendations of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).
The Government’s implementation of the EU Audit Directive and Regulation will include measures to require regular tendering of auditor appointments. Under implementing regulations currently laid before Parliament, all companies that are banks, building societies or insurers, or which have securities admitted to a regulated market, will be required regularly to subject their audit engagement to tendering. The maximum duration of an audit engagement will be limited to 20 years (currently there is no maximum duration). This will be introduced on a phased basis with some longstanding engagements given a further 4 or 7 financial years after the regulations come into force before they must be brought to an end and tendered to new auditors.
The provision on joint audit in the EU Regulation would act as an exemption from having to retender with the frequency envisaged by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). The Government consulted on the implementation of the Audit Directive including this option, and concluded the option should not be taken up.
Joint audit is not a practice followed in the UK, though it is expressly permitted by the Companies Act and legislation on some other entities. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has consulted on whether to take up this derogation. In response to our discussion document in December 2014 on auditor regulation, only 4 of 25 respondents supported its implementation.
It is unclear that increased joint audit would encourage competition. The option in the EU Regulation could result in prolonged audit engagements (up to 24 years) and fewer changes in auditor. This would be contrary to the objective of the CMA, which is to increase retendering of audits.
The CMA considered the impact of joint audits on competition and concluded that promoting joint audits would have little effect on barriers to entry, expansion and selection. The CMA’s conclusions were based on views provided by a range of stakeholders. The CMA was not able to quantify the potential cost of imposing joint audits, but did state that they believed that across the market the costs would be potentially significant. They state that a lot of weight was placed on the views of investors, who were almost universally opposed to joint audits on the grounds of additional costs and risks to audit quality.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North East Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps his Department is taking to increase levels of competition in the auditing sector.
Answered by Anna Soubry
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) completed its investigation into competition in the market for statutory audits of UK companies in the FTSE 350 in 2013. Since that investigation the Department for Business Innovation and Skills, the CMA and the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) have been working to implement the remedies that the CMA identified to improve competition.
Once implemented the Directive and Regulation are expected to increase competition in the sector as they broaden the requirement for regular tendering of auditor appointments. Under implementing regulations currently laid before Parliament, all companies that are banks, building societies or insurers, or which have securities admitted to a regulated market, will be required regularly to subject their audit engagement to tendering. The maximum duration of an audit engagement will be limited to 20 years (currently there is no maximum duration). This will be introduced on a phased basis with some longstanding engagements given a further 4 or 7 financial years after the regulations come into force before they must be brought to an end and tendered to new auditors.