A Blueprint for Audit
Designing the next decade of public interest audit
In January of this year, the UK government announced it would not proceed with the Audit Reform and Corporate Governance Bill. After a decade of work across multiple administrations, the news was disappointing. But it doesn’t bring the reform agenda to an end.
This series explores how the varied professions that shape UK corporate governance can create a more robust, forward-looking audit sector that underpins sustainable economic growth and is of utmost benefit to society.
A Decade of UK Corporate Governance & Audit Reform
Overview and findings
The late 2010s saw the government commission three independent reviews of the UK’s audit and corporate governance landscape: the Kingman Review of audit, accountancy and corporate regulation; the Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) review of audit market competition; and the Brydon Review of the purpose and scope of audit. Following consultation, the Government then published its own policy package for audit and corporate governance reform in 2022.
Although these reviews did not culminate in new legislation, much progress has been made. This report looks at what changes are already in place, and which issues are still to be addressed.
Our research
We assessed the 161 individual recommendations from the three independent reviews and the Government’s 2022 proposals, and graded each on whether:
- A review proposal was rejected during the Government’s consultation process or has been dropped as a proposal by Government since 2022.
- Progress on implementing the proposal is still possible.
- The proposal, or key elements of the proposal, have led to recognisable change in the audit and corporate governance framework
Explore our findings
