Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 36
36
DBT's financial statements became complex, encompassing eighteen new arm's length bodies.
Conclusion
Government departments prepare financial statements in accordance with the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and the Government Financial Reporting Manual (FReM).57 As a result of the inclusion of the balances and transactions relating to the business-focused elements of BEIS the Department was required to prepare financial statements which were wider in scope and complexity when compared to those of DIT. These financial statements also include financial information relating to arm’s length bodies the Department is responsible for, known as a ‘departmental group’. The DIT ‘departmental group’ comprised the core department and one arm’s length body, the Trade Remedies Authority. As part of the changes, the Department became responsible for eighteen further bodies which vary in scale and include the British Business Bank, Companies House and the Insolvency Service.58