Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps the Department is taking to ensure audit requirements are (a) accessible and (b) affordable for small and mid-sized quoted companies.

Audit standards for UK companies are adopted and set by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), with reference to internationally-agreed standards. The law sets other requirements, such as which companies require audit.

The Government will publish a draft Audit Reform and Corporate Governance Bill. The Bill will include provisions for transitioning the FRC into a new regulator, the Audit, Reporting and Governance Authority (ARGA), with powers to monitor and address the resilience of the audit market. The Government is also considering the case for deregulatory changes to the audit of public interest entities (PIEs), which include all listed companies.