To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (1) how many complaints have been made against each recognised professional body in each of the last three years; and in how many such cases his Department and its predecessor intervened; (261586)

The Department sometimes receives complaints about accounting firms and professional bodies. In these cases we refer the complainant to the relevant professional body or to the Professional Oversight Board as appropriate. The information on the numbers of complaints received by the Professional Oversight Board is contained in its Annual Report to my noble Friend the Secretary of State, on pages 23 and 47. This is published on the website of the Financial Reporting Council

http://www.frc.org.uk/.

The information about the number of complaints in which the Department intervened is not held centrally and can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

With regards to the question as to how many individuals are licensed by each recognised professional body, the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform does not hold this information. The Director of the Professional Oversight Board of the Financial Reporting Council has informed us that he wrote to my hon. Friend on this matter on 19 March 2009.