The Committee on Accounting for Public-benefit Entities (CAPE)

The ASB established the Committee on Accounting for Public-benefit Entities in 1994 as one of two specialist committees to advise it on proposals for Statements of Recommended Practice (SORPs) put forward by specialist bodies developing accounting practice for their sectors.

In July 2005 the Committee changed its name to the Committee on Accounting for Public-benefit Entities (CAPE) from the former Public Sector and Not-for-profit Committee to reflect better the nature of the sector on which it advises the Board.

CAPE’s membership and terms of reference are as follows:

 

Chairman
Andrew Lennard	Director of Research, ASB
Members
Andrew Baigent	Director, National Audit Office
Ian Carruthers	Policy and Technical Director, CIPFA and IPSASB member
Ruth Cooke	Finance Director, Midland Heart
Kirsty Gray	Independent Consultant
Miles Hedges	Finance Director, The Open University
Lynn Hine	Partner, Government and Public Sector, PricewaterhouseCoopers
John Stanford	Deputy Technical Director, IPSASB
Robert Humphreys	Finance and IS Director, Oxfam
Stephen Warren	Head of Professional Standards, Audit Commission
Geoffrey Whittington	Former IASB and ASB member
Observers
Raymond Jones	Head of Accountancy Policy, Charity Commission for England and Wales
Larry Pinkney	Financial Reporting Policy Team, HM Treasury
Andrew Connolly	Director of Finance, University of Essex
Rob Griffiths	Executive Director of Group Financial Services, Longhurst Group
Secretary
Joanna Spencer	Project Director, ASB

Terms of reference

1. To review applications from relevant bodies seeking to develop SORPs for public-benefit and similar entities* as referred by the ASB and, in the light of the ASB’s current policy, to recommend to the ASB whether such bodies should be approved.
2. To review SORPs relating to public-benefit and similar entities and recommend to the ASB whether to give its statement of negative assurance and, in particular,
   • to confirm that the SORPs comply with current accounting standards, the ASB’s Statement of Principles, and generally accepted accounting practice; or that any departures therefrom are unavoidable and necessitated by the Government’s requirements (as envisaged in the Foreword to Accounting Standards);
   • to confirm that the procedures laid down in the ASB’s policy for the development of SORPs have been adhered to; and
   • to conduct discussions, on behalf of the ASB, with SORP-making bodie
     
      
3. To advise the ASB generally on matters relating to public-benefit and similar entities, and to conduct discussions on its behalf, as requested by the ASB.
4. To foster a common developmental philosophy for public and private sector reporting, with the aim of minimising differences between public and private sector practices.
5. To develop a common policy in respect of financial reporting by public-benefit and similar entitie
   
    

Footnote
* Public-benefit entities are reporting entities whose primary objective is to provide goods or services for the general public or social benefit and where any risk capital has been provided with a view to supporting that primary objective rather than with a view to a financial return to equity shareholders.