Clause 497

Part of Company Law Reform Bill [Lords] – in a Public Bill Committee at 5:15 pm on 13 July 2006.

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Photo of Justine Greening Justine Greening Vice-Chair (Youth), Conservative Party 5:15, 13 July 2006

It has been useful to get further clarification from the Minister on what the offence will mean in practice. There was a great deal of uncertainty when the clause was debated in the other place, so it has been helpful to discuss a little more practically how the concepts will work in reality. The debate has given me some confidence that there has been some genuine thought about the practicalities of the offence in relation to conducting audits.

I am not fully convinced that there is any evidence that the auditing profession in this country shows any signs of needing such an offence to encourage it to behave responsibly; there seems to be every indication that it is responsible. Nevertheless, I shall not press the amendment to a vote. I will take time to study exactly what the Minister said and to reflect and consult on it. I beg to ask leave to withdraw the amendment.