The Secretary of State may issue guidance for the purpose of helping relevant regulatory and prosecuting authorities to determine how they should carry out their functions in cases where behaviour occurs that—
appears to involve the commission of an offence under section 507 (offences in connection with auditor's report), and
has been, is being or may be investigated—
pursuant to arrangements under paragraph 15 of Schedule 10 (investigation of complaints against auditors and supervisory bodies), or
by the competent authority under the Statutory Auditors and Third Country Auditors Regulations 2016.
The Secretary of State must obtain the consent of the Attorney General before issuing any such guidance.
In this section "relevant regulatory and prosecuting authorities" means—
supervisory bodies within the meaning of Part 42 of this Act,
bodies to which the Secretary of State may make grants under section 16(1) of the Companies (Audit, Investigations and Community Enterprise) Act 2004 (c. 27) (bodies concerned with accounting standards etc),
the Director of the Serious Fraud Office,
the Director of Public Prosecutions or the Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland, and
the Secretary of State.
This section does not apply to Scotland.