“The mention of audit reform in this Queen’s Speech is doubly disappointing. First, the proposed scope of change is modest, and in particular it constitutes a missed opportunity to address wider issues in corporate governance. This might well end up as the lop-sided reform we have consistently warned against.
“But the second disappointment is more serious: timing. There seems to be no chance that this Bill will pass in the forthcoming Parliamentary session, and very little prospect of it doing so in the one after that. Three major independent reviews, a White Paper and many public consultations on from the collapse of Carillion and it seems that we are still, literally, years away from seeing new legislation on the statute book. It is not too late for government to give this the priority it deserves.”