PUBLIC BODIES: ANNUAL REPORTS
Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he is taking to encourage public bodies to report on an integrated reporting basis; and if he will make a statement.
Danny Alexander, Chief Secretary to the Treasury: In July 2014 I laid a command paper before Parliament outlining the Government’s vision for a more simplified and streamlined presentation of statutory Annual Report and Resource Accounts for central government bodies. Within this paper the Government outlined its proposals for a more integrated form of reporting based on three main sections; performance – telling the story, accountability, and financial statements.
HM Treasury gratefully received feedback from the Liaison Committee on these proposals, and have recently consulted the statutorily independent Financial Reporting Advisory Board and central government reporting entities on the plans to implement these new reporting arrangements from 2015-16 onwards. I will be responding to the Liaison Committee ‘s comments shortly. HM Treasury is also supporting a pathfinder initiative on Integrated Reporting in the public sector that is being led by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy. This initiative will examine the extent to which Integrated Reporting can be applied in the public sector, and the results of this work will be taken into consideration as further developments are made to reporting arrangements post 2015-16.