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 6 August (HL7506), and in the light of the fact that the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has indicated that a 'true and fair' override exists in both UK law and the standards of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), why the FRC's Accounting and Reporting Policy Team’s remit to follow and comment on the work of the IASB as it develops International Financial Reporting Standards prevents the FRC from issuing guidance on the application of a 'true and fair' view; and why this issue has not been resolved following the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Select Committee's report Future of Audit, published in April 2019.

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) issued a paper on ‘true and fair’ accounting in June 2014.

Sir Donald Brydon made recommendations on ‘true and fair’ in his report on the Quality and Effectiveness of Audit. The Government is currently considering the full package of reforms needed following the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Select Committee's report Future of Audit, Sir Donald Brydon’s report, Sir John Kingman’s Independent review of Financial Reporting Council and the Competition and Markets Authority’s Market study of the audit market. The Government will publish our proposals for reform in due course.