The commitment to bring forward a draft Audit Reform and Corporate Governance Bill is long overdue and ICAS is pleased to see it finally being addressed.

The first King’s Speech from a Labour government in 15 years showed considerable ambition. The 40 proposed bills covered boosting the economy, housing and planning reform, stricter rules for public spending, taking Britain’s railway infrastructure and trains into public ownership and creating GB Energy. And after years in the making, the new government committed to a draft Audit Reform and Corporate Governance Bill.

Bruce Cartwright, ICAS chief executive, said: “It’s good news that a draft bill to restore trust in audit and corporate governance is firmly on the agenda. There will now be more consultation as the bill is scoped, but the announcement today paves the way for a better system of governance for everyone – investors, pensioners, shareholders and the wider public. The arguments for this reform have been made and won. We had sought, and received, reassurance that this was high on the agenda for any incoming government.

“The hope is that the Bill will give investors and the public access to more transparent reporting and accountability from our most important businesses on their finances. As we have said, this is vital to build the trust and confidence needed to support economic growth.

“We welcome the plans for a revamped, stronger regulator to uphold standards and independent scrutiny of companies’ accounts. We are especially pleased to see that the Bill will address the accountability of company directors by giving more transparency about directors’ decisions. We welcome legislation that will allow for oversight of the whole Board of a business.

“Legislation won’t stop corporate collapse from happening. But it can make sure that the highest standards of governance and accountability are followed. This increases transparency, so when things do go wrong, contingency planning is improved and valuable lessons are learned.

“Among the raft of Bills today we were also pleased to see plans to reform the apprenticeship levy. We have called for improvements to the levy to make sure it is more joined up and accessible for employers. We’ll need to wait to see if the Scottish Government will also consider revamping the scheme.

“We welcome this ambitious programme and, in acting in our public interest role, we will consult and collaborate on much of the proposed legislation.”