Schedule 12: Arrangements in which registered third country auditors are required to participate Chapter 6: Supplementary and General Section 1252 and 1253: Delegation of Secretary of State’s functions
1591.These provisions replace sections 46 and 46A of the 1989 Act and empower the Secretary of State to establish a body, or appoint an existing body, to exercise his functions relating to statutory auditors and the recognition of bodies that supervise auditors and/or provide professional qualifications. To do so, the Secretary of State must make a delegation order that is in accordance with Schedule 13. However, subsection (6) provides that some delegated functions must remain exercisable concurrently by the Secretary of State: namely the power to call for information (sections 1224 and 1244) and the power to issue directions to comply with international obligations (section 1254). Subsection (7) also provides that certain delegated functions concerning the approval of overseas qualifications (section 1221) can be exercised only with the consent of the Secretary of State. Subsection (3) provides for the delegation of the body to have the effect of making it subject to the obligations of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. The Professional Oversight Board is currently appointed under section 46 of the 1989 Act to exercise the Secretary of State’s functions.
1592.Section 1253 specifies the conditions for delegating functions to an existing body. It ensures that an existing body is not precluded from exercising any delegated function on the basis of its involvement with the monitoring, investigation or disciplinary arrangements that are set out in Schedule 10.