The fine imposed by the Financial Reporting Council against PWC LLP in respect of the audit of the accounts of Kier Group plc was £3.35 million, adjusted for aggravating/mitigating factors and admissions/early disposal to £1,959,750. The fine imposed against the Audit Engagement Partner, Jonathan Hook, was £90,000, adjusted for aggravating/mitigating factors and admissions/early disposal to £52,650.

As the FRC investigation was under the FRC’s Audit Enforcement Procedure, the fines are subject to the requirement in regulation 5(7) of the Statutory Auditors and Third Country Auditors Regulations 2016 that the Financial Reporting Council must pay them to the Secretary of State at BEIS for remittance to the exchequer.

Pauline Wallace has informed the Government that she had no involvement in the tribunal between the Accountancy Investigation and Discipline Board and PwC.

Mike Ashley was a serving member of the UK Accounting Standards Board, which was a Board of the FRC, when he acted as an expert witness on behalf of PwC during the Tribunal between the Accountancy Investigation and Discipline Board and PwC. The judgement for this case is available on the FRC’s website (and a copy is attached to this response). The Government does not hold information relating to the procedures of the UK Accounting Standards Board which was a Board of the FRC and ceased operating in 2012.

Pauline Wallace was at partner at PwC between 2002 and 2013. The judgement for the tribunal between the Accountancy Investigation and Discipline Board and PwC was provided in 2006 and is available on the FRC’s website. HM Government does not hold information on whether Pauline Wallace had any involvement in the tribunal.

The UK Endorsement Board operates independently from HM Government. BEIS is therefore unable to provide information relating to members of staff, including information on job history, supporting its work.

The remuneration paid to PriceWaterhouseCoopers as special managers assisting the Official Receiver in the Carillion liquidations is £59,593,062 (net of VAT) for the period from 15 January 2018 to 21 January 2021.

The PWC research was commissioned to inform work on a post-implementation review of non-financial reporting regulations, covering:

a) the 2013 regulations which required all companies, apart from those subject to the small companies’ exemption, to produce strategic reports, and

b) the 2016 non-financial reporting regulations which required all large (>500 employees) Public Interest Entities to report on environmental, social and community matters to the extent necessary for an understanding of the company’s development, performance and position, and the impact of their activities.

The research project was put out to tender in line with the Public Procurement Guidelines. BEIS received two bids to carry out the work and PWC was selected as the preferred contractor, based on the quality of the bid including their expertise. The project was managed by a social researcher who agreed all details related to the methodology and its implementation. The focus of the report was on stakeholder and company perceptions of the regulations and their impact in general and did not use, or consider the use of, non-financial reporting systems by PwC or any other company.

For the qualitative interviews, the Department selected stakeholders covering a likely cross section of views, including a range of investor groups and non-profit and professional bodies and they are listed on page 12 of the report. The stakeholder interviews were intended to complement the quantitative survey of over 100 companies, who provided their views on a confidential basis.

Although different reporting frameworks and international standards were not a focus of the 2019 research, the UK Government supports the use of international frameworks or standards for reporting on non-financial issues where this is possible. We have commissioned further research, which will include looking at the role of domestic and international reporting frameworks.