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Disclosure Log 2023

DISCLOSURE LOG - FOIA Requests

Date of response Nature of request Response
20/12/2023 Please confirm :
  1. how many in-person meetings Sir Jon Thompson held with Lex Greensill (of Greensill Capital) during the period when Sir Jon was CEO of the FRC, and the dates of such meetings.
  2. how many telephone/video meetings Sir Jon Thompson held with Lex Greensill during the period when Sir Jon was CEO of the FRC, and the dates of such meetings.
  3. how many in-person meetings Sir Jon Thompson held with Michael Di Leto (of Saffery Champness LLP) during the period when Sir Jon was CEO of the FRC, and the dates of such meetings.
  4. how many telephone/video meetings Sir Jon Thompson held with Michael Di Leto (of Saffery Champness LLP) during the period when Sir Jon was CEO of the FRC, and the dates of such meetings.
  1. None.
  2. Three telephone/video meetings on 13, 17 and 27 November 2020.
  3. None.
  4. None.
07/12/2023 I am interested in the augmented reality/virtual reality (AR/VR) training that you may deliver. Augmented reality and virtual reality training is the digital simulation of lifelike scenarios for training purposes. Trainees enter a 360°, active learning environment, experiencing sights and sounds that dissolve the barrier between virtual and actual reality. Trainees look, speak, and move about freely in a 3D virtual setting, interacting with simulated real-world tools, machinery, and other trainees and instructors.
  1. What training have you delivered using AR/VR technology?
  2. Are you currently engaging and talking with AR/VR suppliers, and if so who?
  3. Which suppliers have you used for AR/VR training and what was their spend in calendar year 2023 to date?
  4. What is the percentage split of AR/VR training spend between training delivered to own staff versus training delivered to users of government/public services in calendar year 2023 to date?
  5. How much budget have you allocated for AR/VR training for 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 calendar year?
  6. What public sector procurement route have you used to procure AR/VR technology from Jan 2021 to date?
  7. What public sector procurement route have you used to procure AR/VR design services of education training content from Jan 2021 to date?
  1. The FRC has not delivered any training using AR/VR technology.
  2. The FRC is not currently engaging and talking with AR/VR suppliers.
  3. N/A - please see our response to Question 1.
  4. N/A - please see our response to Question 1.
  5. The FRC does not have a budget allocated for AR/VR training for 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 calendar years.
  6. The FRC has not procured AR/VR technology from Jan 2021 to date.
  7. The FRC has not procured AR/VR design services of education training content from January 2021 to date.
14/11/2023 Since 1st January 2020 to the current day, please provide information regarding all personnel from external, private sector organisations that have been seconded to work at the FRC, including:
  • The name of the organisation the secondee came from
  • The date and duration of the secondment
  • A short description of their role
  • Amount paid, if any, in respect of the secondment by the FRC to the seconded worker's employer.
 We can inform you that since 1 January 2020 to date the FRC has had four secondees from external, private sector organisations. We have provided you with the job descriptions of the secondees, the period of the secondment and indicated where the secondee was part of a secondee exchange programme. In respect of the secondments that have formed part of a secondee exchange programme, there has to date been no payment made by the FRC to the seconded workers' employers. We have set this information out in CSV format as requested. The above-mentioned and accompanying information aside, the information you have requested contains personal information. Therefore, we consider that section 40 (Personal information) of the FOIA applies. For a detailed explanation of why section 40 of the Act applies, please see Annex A. Further, the amounts paid by the FRC to the seconded workers' employer in respect of the secondments are exempt from disclosure under section 43 of the Act as disclosure of the amounts paid would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of any person (including the public authority holding it). For a detailed explanation of why the above exemption applies, please see Annex B. Without prejudice to the above, the FRC publishes the amount spent on seconded staff and contractors each year in our Annual Report and Accounts. These reports are published on the FRC's website, and can be found here.
09/11/2023 I would like to know the following:
  • What is the number of public interest entities regulated by the FRC? I would like the data broken down for each of the last five years with a year-end date of 30 September or whichever year-end is most convenient. If you cannot provide data for each of the last five years, then please provide data for each of the last four years. If you cannot provide data for the last four years, then please provide data for the last three years. If you cannot provide data for the last three years, then please provide data for the last two years. If you cannot provide data for the last two years, then please provide the most recent year.
 Some of the information you have requested is exempt from disclosure under section 21 of the Act as it is reasonably accessible to you. This is an absolute exemption which means that the public interest does not need to be considered. More details about this exemption are provided in Annex A below. The information that is available is in the Key Facts and Trends in the Accountancy Profession document, recently updated and published by the FRC in 2023, which can be found here. Figure 33 provides the number of Public Interest Entities which were audited by the 30 audit firms which responded to the FRC's survey for the year ended 2022. (Previous versions of this document will provide this information for the previous four years which you requested.) You should also be able to find the information in the Transparency Reports published by each audit firm. The remainder of the information you have requested is confidential information which has been received by the FRC for the purposes of carrying out our regulatory functions. We are therefore prohibited from disclosing such information under section 44 of the FOIA. This is an absolute exemption, which means that the public interest does not need to be considered. Further information on the application of this exemption is provided in Annex B below.
09/11/2023 I would like to know the following:
  • What is the income for FRC regulated audit firms for audit services?
  • What is the income for FRC regulated audit firms for non-audit services? I would like the data broken down for each of the last five years with a year-end date of 30 September or whichever year-end is most convenient. If you cannot provide data for each of the last five years, then please provide data for each of the last four years. If you cannot provide data for the last four years, then please provide data for the last three years. If you cannot provide data for the last three years, then please provide data for the last two years. If you cannot provide data for the last two years, then please provide the most recent year.
 The FRC does not hold all of this information. Some of the information you have requested is exempt from disclosure under section 21 of the Act as it is reasonably accessible to you. This is an absolute exemption which means that the public interest does not need to be considered. More details about this exemption are provided in Annex A below. The information that is available is in the Key Facts and Trends in the Accountancy Profession document, recently updated and published by the FRC in 2023, which can be found here. Figure 33 provides the UK fee income of Audit Firms with PIE audit clients for 2022, broken down by audit and non-audit services. (Previous versions of this document will provide this information for the previous four years which you requested.) You should also be able to find the information in the Transparency Reports published by each audit firm. Most of the remainder of the information you have requested is confidential information which has been received by the FRC for the purposes of carrying out our regulatory functions. We are therefore prohibited from disclosing such information under section 44 of the FOIA. This is an absolute exemption, which means that the public interest does not need to be considered. Further information on the application of this exemption is provided in Annex B below. To the extent that information is not exempt under sections 21 or 44, we are unable to disclose the information you have requested as it is information that is held confidentially.
03/11/2023 As requested by the FRC, please refine my request to include the data for the period commencing in September 2021 to the current date. Also, further refine my request to include only the following data fields:
  • The name of the supplier
  • The invoice reference number
  • The date of the invoice
  • The gross value of the invoice
  • The date the invoice should have been paid by
  • The actual payment date of the invoice
 Therefore, we consider that section 41 of the Act applies. For a detailed explanation of why this exemption applies, please refer to Annex C below. The FRC holds the information you have requested in respect of late paid invoices for the period September 2021 to date and is providing the information contained within Annex B below. Having considered your request and our suppliers' responses, we have decided not to release the name of the supplier or the invoice reference number as it is exempt from disclosure under section 43 of the FOIA. We consider this exemption to apply as disclosure of that information would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of the FRC and/or its suppliers. A detailed explanation of why we consider the above exemption to apply can be found in Annex A below. In addition, those suppliers to the FRC who are trading in a self-employed or sole trader capacity and who are within the scope of your request have confirmed they do not consent to the disclosure of their personal information (e.g. their name). In consequence, the exemption under section 40 of the FOIA applies in respect of their personal information. Further information on the application of this exemption is set out in Annex A below.
31/10/2023 I have been reviewing the Annual Activity Reports that you publish on your website (https://www.frc.org.uk/library/supervision/corporate-reporting-review/crr-annual-activityreports/). I wanted to ask if there are any reports for the periods 2008/09 and 2009/10 that could be provided to me as the website starts at 2010/11. The earliest Annual Activity Report on the FRC website is dated 2011 and covers the period 2009-2010. The two reports preceding this report are the Annual Activity Report dated 2009 which covers the period 2007-2008 and the Annual Activity Report dated 2010 which covers the period 2008-2009. Annual Activity Report 2009 and 2010 Please find attached the Annual Activity Reports dated 2009 and 2010, covering respectively the periods 2007-2008 and 2008-2009.
26/10/2023 I would be grateful if you would provide details of your current contract covering reprographics/print arrangements under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 as follows:
  1. Number of MFDs (Multi-functional devices) & photocopiers at Financial Reporting Council
  2. Name of incumbent
  3. Start/end date of contract (if expired, WHEN do you expect to revisit the marketplace)
  4. Details of any extension options
  5. What framework / Route to market used
  6. Number of regular/desktop printers (in addition to above)
  7. Is there a support contract on above, if yes please state start/end date
  8. Does the Council have a Print Room
  9. If yes, name of supplier, number of devices and start/end date of contract, also details of any extension options
  10. Total annual print/copy volumes including, if applicable your Print Room, for (a) mono (b) colour
  11. What Print software does the Council run
  12. Your total annual spend on print
  13. Name of person at the Council responsible for the running of MFDs and, if applicable, your Print Room
 The FRC's responses are as follows:
  1. The FRC has 7 MFDs.
  2. The MFDs are managed under a contract with Bechtle Limited.
  3. All MFDs are out of warranty; support is managed by our IT provider, Bechtle Limited. This contract started on 1 October 2023 and ends on 30 September 2025.
  4. There are no extensions.
  5. A competitive tender was undertaken for the provision of an IT Managed Service.
  6. There are 13 Desktop / Network printers.
  7. Support for these printers is managed under the IT Managed Service contract with Bechtle Limited, as mentioned above.
  8. No.
  9. N/A
  10. Mono = 386,000 pages for the last 12 months; Colour= 96,000 pages for the last 12 months.
  11. We run Papercut.
  12. We understand that you are asking for the amount that the FRC spends on support for its MFDs and other printers. We do not hold this information. As described above, support for the FRC's printers and MFDs is provided by Bechtle Limited under the IT Managed Service contract; cost is not broken down into individual components.
  13. We are unable to disclose this information as it contains the personal data of individuals. We therefore consider that section 40 of the Act applies. Further information on the application of this exemption is provided in Annex A below.
25/10/2023 Please disclose correspondence between the FRC and the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries since August 2022 regarding the regarding an independent investigation launched by the IFoA following a grievance raised by Stephen Mann, its then chief executive. The FRC does not hold the information that has been requested
12/10/2023 I would also like to ask under the FOI Act for a copy of the existing guidelines from the FRC that cover what is required by companies to report emoluments for loss of office. I gather from the email chain from water campaigner David Orr that Mohammed Saddiq, the former Executive Director of Operations of Wessex Water, was in receipt of £241,566 for Loss of Office, yet this figure was not shown against the emoluments paid against his name for that year. Would the FRC expect such a payment to be listed against individual names, rather than an unattributed figure many pages away on p86? (Early termination payments made in the year. The auditor is required to report on this information. During the year early termination payments of £241,566 were agreed in relation to compensation for loss of office.) Please let me have a copy of the relevant section of FRC guidelines and an answer to this question within 20 working days. We do not hold this information. However the FRC's 'Guidance on the Strategic Report' notes that guidance on the disclosures to be included in the directors' remuneration report has been published by the GC100 and Investor Group. Please refer to footnote 16, on page 13 of the following link to find the weblink to the GC100 and Investor Group's guidance: https://media.frc.org.uk/documents/Strategic_Report_Guidance.pdf Looking at the balance of your request, the information requested is (or contains) confidential information received for the purposes of carrying out functions under legislation of the Crown Dependencies, which includes a statutory prohibition upon disclosure. As a result, we are prohibited from disclosing the information under section 44 of the Act. This is an absolute exemption which means that the public interest does not need to be considered. More details about this exemption are provided in Annex A. Further, we are unable to disclose the information requested because it is information that is held confidentially. Therefore, we consider that section 41 of the Act applies. For a detailed explanation of why this exemption applies, please refer to Annex A below. Finally, much of the information you have requested contains personal information. Therefore, we consider that section 40 (Personal information) of the Act also applies, to the extent that the requested information contains personal information. For a detailed explanation of why section 40 of the Act applies, please see Annex A.
19/09/2023 With reference to this new article: https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.frc.org.uk%2Fnews%2Faugust-2023%2Fsanctions-against-mazars&data=05%7C01%7CFOIA%40frc.org.uk%7C13e525f1984a42e7653308dba2221a75%7C088c86541a5a4d839114966713172dd7%7C0%7C0%7C638282039854087056%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzliLCJBTil6lk1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=ht1rJAyiimE2RxAwDo5hGlh%2FKOMRfSy52Sxzo9r%2B1Vg%3D&reserved=0 Please provide me with: The identity of:
  • the Market Traded Company.
  • the Recognised Supervisory Body.
  • the relevant Registrar.
  • the relevant Crown Dependency.
The specific Regulatory Framework for Auditing that Mazars failed to comply with. A copy of the Undertakings. A copy of any report provided to the Committee from the AQR and any further information the Committee received (refer paragraph 6.4(a) of the procedure document), including any representations provided to the Committee that relates to that report or information.		 The identity of the Recognised Supervisory Body is information already within the public domain. A Recognised Supervisory Body implements sanctions and paragraph 4.4 of the CDRasp, confirms the identity of the Body responsible for implementing sanctions is the ICAEW. In light of the exemptions relied upon below, we do not consider we are required to either confirm or deny the existence of the information you have requested. Your request for information relates to information that has been provided in confidence to the FRC. We are unable to disclose the requested information and consider section 41 of the FOIA applies. Further information on the application of this exemption is provided in Annex A. Your request for the witness statements of individuals would require the personal information of those individuals who provided those statements to be disclosed. Therefore, we consider that section 40 (personal information) of the FOIA applies, and we are unable to provide this information. Further information on the application of this exemption is set out in Annex A.
25/08/2023 "Decision of the Disciplinary Tribunal in the matter of Carillion plc and KPMG 30th May 2022 Without prejudice to the exemptions relied upon below and in response to your request for the witness statement of KPMG, we do not hold that information. A witness statement by KPMG was not provided. Looking at the balance of your request, the information requested would be confidential information received for the purposes of carrying out our regulatory functions. In consequence, we are prohibited from disclosing such information under section 44 of the FOIA. This is an absolute exemption which means that the public interest does not need to be considered. Further information on the application of this exemption is provided in Annex A below.
21/08/2023 On 30th May 2022 the Disciplinary Tribunal handed down its decision and reasons in the above mentioned matter. In that decision reference was made to various documents and I write now formally to request copies of those listed below pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act please. The documents which I seek ask to see are the following:
  1. The witness statements of KPMG and the five individual respondents namely Peter Meehan, Alistair Wright (x3), Richard Kitchen, Adam Bennett and Pratik Paw;
  2. The three forged Minutes of the three meetings said to have taken place January February 2017 which forgeries were created 10-15 October 2017, and any drafts thereof;
  3. The original two forgeries of the spreadsheets, the latter created October 2017, and any drafts thereof. ... In this connection I shall be very grateful if you will in the first instance provide me with copies of the witness statements of KPMG itself and its six partners/employees mentioned above, plus the said forged Minutes and spreadsheets."
Please may you provide me, in Microsoft Excel or an equivalent electronic format, with a list of invoices that were not paid within 30 days for the last 6 financial years (2017/18 to 2022/23 inclusive) which would feed into the Regulation 113 Notice you are required to publish each year as part of your obligations under The Public Contracts Regulations 2015, with the following information for each invoice (where available):
  • The name of the Supplier
  • Supplier email address
  • Supplier company registration number
  • Supplier postal address
  • Supplier telephone number
  • Supplier website
  • The date of the invoice
  • The invoice reference
  • The gross value of the Invoice
  • The date the invoice should have been paid by
  • The actual payment date of the invoice
  • The total amount of interest liability due to late payment of the invoice
  • The total amount of interest paid to the supplier due to late payment of the invoice.
For the avoidance of doubt we request the data behind payment performance summaries for Regulation 113 Notices, not the summaries themselves.		 The FRC may hold the information requested but consider that establishing whether it holds the information will exceed the cost limit. The FRC is not required to respond to your request because it would exceed the cost limit provided for in the Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004 ("Regulations"), made by the Ministry of Justice. Therefore Section 12 (Exemption where cost of compliance exceeds appropriate limit) of the FOIA applies. Further information on the application of this exemption is set out in Annex A below. When a request is refused because the 'appropriate limit' has been exceeded, we endeavour, where it is reasonable to do so, to provide advice and assistance in respect of how the request could be refined or limited to come within the cost limit. In respect of your request, it would need to be refined by both: requesting information in relation to a shorter period; and reducing the number of different types of information sought. A request which was limited to seeking information for a period commencing in September 2021 which was limited to key information types (e.g. name of supplier and amount of invoice) is more likely to be a request the FRC could consider within the relevant costs limits. The FRC would consider any subsequent request afresh and that consideration would include an assessment of whether any FOIA exemptions may apply to the information sought in that subsequent request. In the present circumstances, given the FRC has determined that complying with your request exceeds the relevant costs limits, it has not determined whether any other exemptions would apply. However, it has initially noted the possibility that exemptions relating to confidentiality, personal information and the effective conduct of public affairs may be applicable. Should you wish to make a fresh FOIA request, please let us know in writing using the contact details contained at the end of this letter. Additionally, it may be helpful for you to be aware that details of tenders and Contract Award Notices the FRC is required to publish are available via the following webpage: https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder.
04/08/2023 Please can you provide me with information concerning the maintenance of your corporate estate i.e. operational buildings, land and any other property (e.g. investment) and schools, if they are within your jurisdiction. Not any social housing/dwellings.
  1. What type of maintenance management model does your organisation use? E.g. Managed supply-chain, single hard-fm & soft-fm contractor, internal workforce, principal contractor etc.
  2. Can you provide a list of the approved contractors used?
  3. What are the total values of contracts granted?
  4. When do these contracts expire?
  5. What services are provided in each contract?
  6. What procurement method was used? E.g. Open ITT, Framework if so, which one?
 UKEB does not have a corporate estate, rather it has an allocated workspace within an office building managed by the Government Property Agency. Accordingly, we do not hold this information.
03/08/2023 In view of the fact that a) BDO LLP did not file an auditor cessation statement at companies house in respect of its auditing of M J Hudson Limited, and b) M J Hudson Group Plc did not release an RNS relating to any BDO LLP cessation statement, I am wondering if the FRC would a) please confirm that a cessation statement was sent to the FRC following BDO LLP's removal as auditor and b) please provide me with a copy of that cessation statement, if there is one? We do not hold this information.
03/08/2023 I have just come across the following UKRN publication on performance scorecards: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/_data/assets/pdf_file/0031/189229/ukrn-performancescorecards.pdf and wondered if you may be able to provide information/data pertaining to the Net Promoter Score (NPS) (UKRN says that I must contact the member association as UKRN is not subject to FOI requests) Specifically, please can I request any data you hold - including across days/weeks/months/years; different business types/customers (if applicable); different departments; operations/activities performed etc. - on your organisation's "Net Promoter Score"(s), also known as NPS, and/or on any NPS data you have on the organisations you are associated with (e.g., regulate). Assuming this data exists, I would appreciate it if I could have the data for as long as your organisation has used the Net Promoter Score. However, if this is impossible, please could you provide a general overview of the length of time you have utilised NPS data so that I can make this FOI request viable. If the data are available, I am hoping to collect data on: The specific wording for the Net Promoter Score question(s) people are asked (e.g., people might be asked if they would recommend to a friend or to a colleague or somebody else - it's this type of information I'm interested in across days/weeks/months/years; business/customer types; different departments; operations/activities performed etc.) The individual score people gave (i.e. from the 0-10 scale) The % of detractors, % of passives, % of promoters for each time the overall NPS score is calculated - The overall NPS score (this calculated by subtracting the % of detractors from the % of promoters) Any associated qualitative data that might be collected alongside the 0-10 scale, and the respective question wording used to collect this data - Any other data that could be linked to the NPS data (e.g., data on where the NPS survey was completed and how - for example, via an email, in real-time after an interaction with a client etc., by your organisation or by a third-party etc.) Any other associated data (e.g., customer satisfaction data) that may have been captured, and, if possible, a way to cross-reference the respondent's NPS data with their other (e.g. customer satisfaction) data (I appreciate this will need to be anonymised - here I'd only be looking for something like ID_1, ID_2, ID_3 etc. that allows us to have a unique identifier for all associated data). - The time period in which individual scores are aggregated (e.g., if your organisation calculates the overall NPS every month, please can I have the specific dates where one month starts and ends?) - It would be great to know if the NPS question(s) – or something similar - is also used to survey employees of your organisation (and not just, for example, patients, family members etc.) and have this associated data too. We do not hold this information as the UKRN does not have a Net Promotor Score for the FRC.
28/07/2023 Please can you provide me with information concerning the maintenance of your corporate estate i.e. operational buildings, land and any other property (e.g. investment) and schools, if they are within your jurisdiction. Not any social housing/dwellings.
  1. Q1. What type of maintenance management model does your organisation use? E.g. Managed supply-chain, single hard-fm & soft-fm contractor, internal workforce, principal contractor etc.
  2. Q2. Can you provide a list of the approved contractors used?
  3. Q3. What are the total values of contracts granted?
  4. Q4. When do these contracts expire?
  5. Q5. What services are provided in each contract?
  6. Q6. What procurement method was used? E.g. Open ITT, Framework if so, which one?
 Question 1 The Financial Reporting Council operates a maintenance management model with a number of different Hard and Soft Facilities Management contractors. Question 2
| Hard Facilities Management | Soft Facilities Management | |---------------------------|---------------------------| |
  • Coopers Fire Limited - service & repairs of fire curtains and statutory inspection and servicing of Fire and Smoke Curtains.
  • IM Mechanical & Electrical Services Ltd - electrical maintenance work (Air Con).
  • J. Munro Property Maintenance Ltd - reactive maintenance and planned pre-maintenance.
  • Senseco Systems Limited - communications' room gas suppression system.
  • Style Door Systems Ltd - folding door system.
  • London City Fire (UK) Ltd - annual inspection and extinguisher replacement and certificate.
  • Convergint Security Systems Ltd - building access
  • Rackline - mobile racking.
|
  • Cobal Sign Systems - signage for office
  • F. C. Brown (Steel)
  • Bisley - office location
  • Shiners Cleaning Services.
  • Shred-on-Site Limited - services.
  • Oasis Group - office supplies
  • Banner Group Limited - records management
  • Exubia Limited - confidential waste disposal
  • Selecta Ltd - vending machines
  • Absolutely Courier
  • Calder Conference
  • Fruitful Office Ltd
  • Quadient UK Ltd
  • Al-Desco & Pret - Catering
  • Windsor Print Production - business cards/small printing
|

Question 3 The total value of contracts granted is approximately £265,000 per annum. Question 4 These contracts are ongoing until terminated with notice. Question 5 Hard Facilities Management | | 28/07/2023 | Vanguard Asset Management's final annual Stewardship Report submitted to the FRC in April of this year, explaining how Vanguard has applied the UK Stewardship Code over calendar year 2022. | Looking at your request, we neither confirm nor deny that we hold information falling within the description specified in your request. The duty in section 1(1)(a) of the FOIA does not apply, by virtue of section 36(3) of the FOIA. Section 36(3) of the FOIA allows for a public authority to neither confirm nor deny whether it holds information where such confirmation would, in the reasonable opinion of a qualified person, be likely to prejudice any of the matters outlined in section 36(2). For a detailed explanation of why section 36 applies, please see Annex A below. This should not be taken as an indication that the information you requested is or is not held by us. | | 12/07/2023 | I am writing to make a formal request for information under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. I kindly request that you provide me with the following information:

  1. A copy of your organisation's Records of Processing Activity (ROPA) as defined in Article 30 of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR).
| Under section 1(1)(a) of the Act, any person making a request for information to a public authority is entitled to be informed in writing by the public authority whether it holds information of the description specified in the request. If the public authority holds information of the type specified in the request, the person requesting the information is entitled under section 1(1)(b) of the Act to have the information communicated to them. The rights in section 1(1)(a) and (b) are subject to a number of exclusions and exemptions. Having considered your request, we have decided to disclose some of the requested information. However, some of the requested information is being withheld under section 22 (information accessible by another means) as it is reasonably accessible to you; section 31 (law enforcement) as disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the prevention or detection of crime; and section 40 (personal data) of the Act as the requested information contains personal information. See below and the Annexes for further information on the application of these sections. Please see below the FRC's response to each of your specific requests.
  1. A copy of your organisation's Records of Processing Activity (ROPA) as defined in Article 30 of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). A copy of the FRC's Records of Processing Activity is enclosed. Some information has been redacted from this document and is being withheld under sections 31 and 40 of the Act as described above.
  2. A copy of all legitimate interest assessments conducted by your organisation where you rely on Article 6(1)(f) legitimate interests as your lawful basis for processing. The FRC's legitimate interest assessments have been captured in Data Protection Impact Assessments. The FRC does not currently hold any information in the form of a Legitimate Interest Assessment.
  3. A copy of all privacy impact assessments conducted by your organisation. To date, the FRC's privacy impact assessments have been captured in Data Protection Impact Assessments. The FRC does not currently hold any information in the form of a Privacy Impact Assessment.
  4. A copy of all data protection impact assessments conducted by your organisation. Data Protection Impact Assessments relating to the following projects or applications have been conducted and are enclosed:
    • CCTV
    • Diversity reporting on XCD
    • SAAS Financial System
    • Payroll Giving Agency
    • Social Mobility on XCD
    • Hybrid Working Survey
    • BAU IT Tools
    • Microsoft Teams
    • SMART Stakeholder Management system
    • PIE Audit Registration
    Some information has been redacted from these documents and is being withheld under sections 31 and 40 of the Act as described above.
  5. A copy of all international transfer risk assessments conducted by your organisation. A copy of the FRC's only Transfer Risk Assessment is enclosed. Some information has been redacted from this document and is being withheld under section 40 of the Act as described above.
  6. A recent copy of your organisation's data protection compliance assessment using the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO)'s accountability framework template. If you are using your own standards to monitor compliance with the Data Protection 2018, please provide me with copy of it. The FRC's data protection compliance assessment, which uses the ICO's accountability framework template, has not yet been finalised.
  7. A copy of your organization's data protection policy. Copies of the FRC's Staff Data Protection Policy and the Individual Rights (Data Privacy) Policy are enclosed.
  8. A copy of your organization's subject access request policy, procedures, and processes, including any guidance material such as folder structure, naming conventions, and redaction guides. A copy of the FRC's Standard Operating Procedure for Subject Access Requests is enclosed. Some information has been redacted from this document and is being withheld under section 40 of the Act as described above. A copy of the FRC's Records Management & Retention Policy is enclosed.
  9. A copy of your organisation's privacy notices, including but not limited to employees, customers, ministers, special advisors (SPADs), complaints, NEDS, visitors, and CCTV. Please find links to the FRC's Website Privacy Statement, Stakeholder Engagement Privacy Notice, Regulatory Privacy Notice, Recruitment Privacy Notice and CCTV Privacy Notice. These documents are exempt from disclosure under section 21 of the Act as they are reasonably accessible to you. A copy of the FRC's Staff Privacy Notice is enclosed. Some information has been redacted from this document and is being withheld under section 40 of the Act as described above.
  10. A copy of your organisation's due diligence questions for vendor management such as independent data controllers or processors. Copies of the FRC's due diligence questions for data controllers and processors and its Code of Conduct questions are enclosed.
| | 16/06/2023 | I am writing in response to your email dated 18 May 2023 requesting the following information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA):
  1. The number of whistleblowing reports that the FRC has received
  2. Could you please break this number down by the 'type' of wrongdoing that is being reported - please use whichever categories/breakdown the FRC currently uses
  3. If possible, could you also tell me how many of these reports were made "internally"
Please prioritise answering questions 1 and 2. If it is not possible to get five years of data, please provide four years. If it is not possible to provide four years of data, please provide three years. If it is not possible to provide three years of data please provide two years. If it looks as though any part of my request exceeds the limit for the FOIA, please do not hesitate to contact me about reducing the scope. | Questions 1 & 2 The information you have requested in respect of whistleblowing reports the FRC has received in 2022/23 is exempt from disclosure under Section 22 of the FOIA because it is information intended for future publication. This exemption is qualified, and we have balanced the public interest for and against disclosing the information earlier than planned, as required by the Act. More details about this exemption and why we consider it to apply are provided in Annex A below. The remainder of the information you have requested is exempt from disclosure under Section 21 of the FOIA because it is reasonably accessible to you. The number of whistleblowing reports the FRC receives is published in the FRC's Annual Report and Accounts publications, which are available on the FRC website.1 More details about this exemption and why we consider this section to apply are provided in Annex B below. Question 3 None. | | 13/06/2023 |
  1. Has your regulatory body been contacted by the Government with a request for suggestions for post-Brexit regulatory changes?
  2. If you have responded to a request how many regulatory changes have you proposed.
  3. What are those regulatory changes that you have suggested.
  4. The number of regulations that relate to your regulatory body which have already been amended or repealed due to Brexit.
  5. The titles of these regulations that relate to your regulatory body which have been amended or repealed as a result of Brexit.
  6. The number of regulations that relate to your regulatory body which are in anyway under review as a result of Brexit.
  7. The titles of these regulations which are under review as a result of Brexit.
You indicated that the context of these requests is to identify the impact of Brexit on the UK regulatory landscape, including what regulations or rules that the FRC has amended or repealed or considered repealing as a result of Brexit. You also indicated that priority should be provided to questions 1 - 3 in the event the permitted time would be exceeded. We have understood your first question as asking whether the FRC has been requested by Government (i.e. a central government department) to provide suggestions for post EU exit regulatory changes that could be made to the regulatory framework which cover the work of auditors. In respect of your fourth and fifth requests, we have understood the phrase "regulations" does not include Acts of Parliament. | In response to your first question, the answer is 'Yes'. However, we are withholding information requested pursuant to your requests numbered 2, 3, 6 & 7 because it is considered exempt pursuant to section 36(2)(b)(i) and (ii) or 36(2)(c) FOIA. This is because its disclosure would be likely to otherwise prejudice the effective conduct of public affairs. For a detailed explanation of how this exemption applies, please see Annex A. In response to your 4th and 5th request, 15 items have been identified. Their titles are:
  1. Retained EU Regulation 2014/537 (this is EU Regulation No 537/2014 as retained in UK law).
  2. Retained EU Regulation 2002/1606 (this is EC Regulation No 1606/2002 as retained in UK law).
  3. The Companies (Revision of Defective Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 No. 373.
  4. The Small Companies and Groups (Accounts and Directors' Report) Regulations 2008 No. 409.
  5. The Large and Medium-sized Companies and Groups (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 No. 410.
  6. The Companies (Disclosure of Auditor Remuneration and Liability Limitation Agreements) Regulations 2008 No. 489.
  7. The Insurance Accounts Directive (Miscellaneous Insurance Undertakings) Regulations 2008 No. 565.
  8. The Partnerships (Accounts) Regulations 2008 No. 569.
  9. The Limited Liability Partnerships (Accounts and Audit) (Application of Companies Act 2006) Regulations 2008 No 191.1
  10. The Statutory Auditors (Amendment of Companies Act 2006 and Delegation of Functions etc) Order 2012 No. 1741.
  11. The Statutory Auditors and Third Country Auditors Regulations 2013 No. 1672.
  12. The Statutory Auditors and Third Country Auditors Regulations 2016 No. 649.
  13. Statutory Auditors and Third Country Auditors (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 No. 177.
  14. Statutory Auditors and Third Country Auditors (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 No. 108.
  15. FRC Eligibility Criteria.
The FRC would also like to draw to the requestor's attention that information relating to Retained EU Law is publicly available through the REUL dashboard. This is an authoritative catalogue of Retained EU Law. It can be searched via the name of the government department which is responsible for the retained EU law and/or by keyword. It also contains information identifying whether Retained EU law has been modified. | | 01/06/2023 |
  1. The duration of time utilising cloud infrastructure.
  2. The criteria used to choose a cloud provider.
  3. The percentage of infrastructures employing cloud services. Clarification provided on the meaning of 'cloud services': "Of all applications, databases and storage used by the commission, which percentage utilises cloud services? Cloud infrastructure refers to the collection of virtualised resources and services that are provided over the internet by cloud service providers. It comprises a set of interconnected servers, storage systems, networking components, and software tools that allow users to access and manage computing resources remotely."
  4. The supplier of cloud infrastructures used. (AWS/Oracle/Azure etc.)
  5. Case studies highlighting the successful implementation of the 'Cloud-first' strategy.
  6. The uptime of the cloud infrastructure.
  7. The annual budget over the last five years for IT-managed services.
  8. Please provide the percentage spent on cloud-managed services Clarification provided in respect of what the percentage 'is of': "The percentage of your total budget allocated to cloud-managed services? Please provide the percentage of spend for cloud services vs. your annual IT budget. Please also provide your IT Budget as a percentage of your total corporate budget."
|
  1. The duration of time using cloud infrastructure is 18 months.
  2. To the extent your request relates to cyber-security requirements, we are unable to disclose any criteria because disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the prevention or detection of crime. Consequently, this information is exempt from disclosure under section 31 of FOIA. For a detailed explanation as to why section 31 is considered to apply, please see Annex A below. To the extent your request relates to other criteria, we do not hold this information.
  3. We do not hold this information.
  4. Azure & AWS provide storage services which do not include Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) or Platform as a Service (PaaS) services.
  5. We do not hold this information.
  6. The uptime of the cloud infrastructure is 100% for the 18 month period it has been in use.
  7. The annual budget over the last 5 years for IT managed services was:
    • 2018-2019 budget: £0.8 million
    • 2019-2020 budget: £0.9 million
    • 2020-2021 budget: £1.4 million
    • 2021-2022 budget: £1.6 million
    • 2022-2023 budget: £3 million
  8. 25% of the annual IT budget is spent on cloud-managed services. The FRC's IT budget expressed as a percentage of its total corporate budget was 5.5% for the 2022-2023 budget.
| | 20/03/2023 | Please provide a list of any and all contact your organisation and/or staff have had with British American Tobacco, Imperial Brands, Japan Tobacco International, Philip Morris International, as well as any other domestic or transnational tobacco companies or anyone representing the tobacco industry including subsidiaries of tobacco industry. I would like this information for the period from 1 April 2021 to 20 February 2023. Contact would primarily include attending or arranging meetings or functions, and responding to correspondence or phone calls. Please break down the information by:
  • Tobacco company or representative's name
  • Date of contact(s)
  • Type of contact (meeting, email, letter, phone call, text/app message or video call, e- card or any other form of electronic communication)
  • Place of contact, if relevant
  • Purpose of contact
  • Outcome of contact, including if no action taken
| We have provided the information we hold in Appendix A. | | 17/03/2023 | Please provide a list of any and all contact your organisation and/or staff have had with British American Tobacco, Imperial Brands, Japan Tobacco International, Philip Morris International, as well as any other domestic or transnational tobacco companies or anyone representing the tobacco industry including subsidiaries of tobacco industry. I would like this information for the period from 1 April 2021 to 20 February 2023. Contact would primarily include attending or arranging meetings or functions, and responding to correspondence or phone calls. Please break down the information by:
  • Tobacco company or representative's name
  • Date of contact(s)
  • Type of contact (meeting, email, letter, phone call, text/app message or video call, e- card or any other form of electronic communication)
  • Place of contact, if relevant
  • Purpose of contact
  • Outcome of contact, including if no action taken
| We have provided the information we hold in a separate attachment (Annex A). | | 16/03/2023 | I am doing a research project investigating call-off contracts in the public sector. I have identified some potential call-off contracts awarded by the Financial Reporting Council, but I can't find details of the framework agreements they were awarded from. I have attached an Excel file that contains the information I am looking at. The last two columns ("Title of framework used" and "Contracts Finder or TED link of framework agreement") is where I am missing information - please could you fill these in. |
  1. Risk & Controls Management Software Title of framework used: G-Cloud 12 Framework Agreement (RM1557.12) Contract finder or TED link of framework used (if applicable): n/a
  2. Assessment Services Title of framework used: G-Cloud 12 Framework Agreement (RM1557.12)
  3. Market Intelligence Platform Title of framework used: G-Cloud 12 Framework Agreement (RM1557.12) Contract finder or TED link of framework used (if applicable): n/a
| | 06/03/2023 | Please note that I have identified these contracts as possible call-off contracts, so some of them might not be. Some could be, for instance, procured directly (without being called off from a framework agreement), or could be themselves notices of the establishment of a framework agreement. Therefore I would kindly ask you to specify in these incidences what kind of procurement was used in the "Title of framework used" column. I have provided the title, description, details of the email contact from the notice, the publication date, and procedure type used to award each potential call-off, as well as a URL link to the call-off in question and a unique reference ID for each potential call-off. Please let me know if there is anything else you need to complete the request. | | | 14/02/2023 | I am writing to request information on FRC staff satisfaction. Please provide the following:
  • A copy of the latest staff satisfaction survey conducted by the FRC
  • Copies of the previous three years of staff satisfaction surveys conducted by the FRC.
Please could you provide the following information under the freedom of information act covering the last 12 months, or the most recent 12 month period recorded:
  1. Has the organisation used agencies to recruit temporary non-medical non-clinical staff? 1a. If so please confirm the total agency spend on non-medical non clinical temporary staff? 1b. Please provide a breakdown of your answer to question 1a, splitting the spend by job title/specialism
  2. Has the organisation used agencies to recruit permanent non-medical non-clinical staff? 2a. If so please confirm the total agency spend on non-medical non clinical permanent staff? 2b. Please provide a breakdown of your answer to question 2a, splitting the spend by job title/specialism
  3. The contact name of the person responsible for dealing with non-medical non clinical permanent recruitment?
  4. The contact name of the person responsible for dealing with non-medical non clinical temporary recruitment?
| Please refer to Annex A which includes the following:
  • Blank copies of the FRC People Survey questionnaire for the years: 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 and;
  • Final results of the FRC People Survey for the years: 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023.
We can confirm that the FRC has used agencies to recruit temporary and permanent staff in the last 12 months. The total agency spend on temporary staff is £20,874.00, and the total agency spend on permanent staff is £566,366.84. Please note that these figures are for the period covering 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2022. The table provided in Annex A below shows a breakdown of the spend by specialism for temporary and permanent staff. Please note that the category "Other' comprises the spend on FRC staff who do not fall within a specialism. We are unable to provide you with their job titles as this information would make the individuals identifiable. It is therefore personal information concerning other individuals. We consider that section 40 (Personal information) of FOIA applies. Further information on the application of this exemption is set out in Annex B below. We are unable to provide you the name of FRC staff who deal with recruitment as this is personal information concerning other individuals. Therefore, we consider that section 40 (Personal information) of FOIA applies. Further information on the application of this exemption is set out in Annex B below. | | 08/02/2023 | Please find below my FOI request regarding malicious emails sent to the department. The date range for the request is for 2022. The data shall include a breakdown by individual departments (e.g. separate departments, agencies, or public bodies within the main government agency), if applicable. Where data isn't available for the entire year, please provide the data and timescale it relates to (e.g. X emails over the last 90 days). | Questions 1 and 2 Looking at your request, we are unable to disclose the number of malicious emails successfully blocked and/or detected (including a breakdown of the type of malicious email) as disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the prevention or detection of crime. Therefore, this information is exempt from disclosure under section 31 (law enforcement) of the FOIA. For a detailed explanation of why the above exemption applies, please see Annex A. | | 13/01/2023 |
  1. How many malicious emails have been successfully blocked/detected?
  2. If possible, please provide a breakdown of figures by malicious email type, e.g. spam, malware, phishing, and ransomware.
  3. What percentage of malicious emails were opened by staff?
  4. What percentage of malicious links in the emails were clicked on by staff?
  5. How many email accounts/employees are there within your department?
All correspondence, and records of meetings, with, or which refer to mention or cite Martin Moore QC (or as now KC). The period covered by this request is from 1 April 2020 to date, 1 December 2022. "Correspondence" means, all internal and external letters, memoranda, notes of telephone conversations, e-mails and handwritten notes. "Records of meetings" means records in whatever form | Question 3 We do not record this information. Question 4 We do not record this information. Question 5 A total of 450 staff S12 Cost exemption applied. |

  1. The number of whistleblowing reports the FRC receives is published in the FRC's Annual Report and Accounts publications, which are available on the FRC website. ↩

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