A Blueprint for Audit
Designing the next decade of public interest audit
In January 2026, the Government announced it would not proceed with a long-planned audit and corporate governance reform legislation. After almost a decade of work across multiple administrations, the news was disappointing. But it doesn’t bring the reform agenda to an end.
This series explores how we got to where we are today, and how the varied professions and stakeholders that shape UK audit and corporate governance can create a more robust, forward-looking audit sector that underpins sustainable economic growth and is of utmost benefit to society.
A Decade of UK Corporate Governance & Audit Reform
Assessing the impact of independent reviews and government policy
Overview and findings
The late 2010s saw the commission of three independent reviews of the UK’s audit and corporate governance landscape: the Kingman Review of audit, accountancy and corporate regulation; the Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) review of audit market competition; and the Brydon Review of the purpose and scope of audit. Following consultation, the Government then published its own policy package for audit and corporate governance reform in 2022.
Although these reviews did not culminate in new legislation, much progress has been made. Our report – the first in our Blueprint for Audit series – looks at what progress has already been delivered, and which issues are still to be addressed.
Our research
We assessed the individual recommendations from the three independent reviews and the Government’s 2022 proposals, with each graded on whether:
- A review proposal was rejected during the Government’s consultation process or has been dropped as a proposal by Government since 2022.
- Progress on implementing the proposal is still possible, either through the Government’s commitment to place the FRC on a statutory footing, or its commitment to consult on the modernisation of corporate reporting, or through other means.
- The proposal, or key elements of the proposal, have led to recognisable change in the audit and corporate governance framework – the proposal may have been fully implemented as intended, or action in line with the broad thrust of the proposal may have occurred.
Explore our findings
