Waiting game

The super-regulator’s report on the events leading up to the closure of Axiom Ince answers many questions about the fiasco. But several remain. One is over the LSB’s announcement last May that publication would be delayed because of the general election. The assumption at the time was that the report – originally scheduled for spring – was ready, but had been put on hold lest it steal thunder from the big event.

It turns out this was not the case. A helpful chronology in the report reveals that Northern Ireland firm Carson McDowell did not submit its first draft until five days after the election; the final version – incorporating the SRA’s feedback – wasn’t ready until 9 October.

The chronology provides intriguing hints about why it all took much longer than expected. Apparently, after reviewing the ‘voluminous’ set of documents originally provided by the SRA in February, Carson McDowell was forced on 16 April to chase ‘copies of documents which ought to have been included in the initial data share but which were corrupted, password-protected or significantly redacted’.

It had to make a further request a month later ‘related to some documents… which still remained unavailable/password protected’. Interviews with key SRA personnel were not concluded until 20 June.

We asked the LSB why the process had been so drawn out. A spokesperson said: ‘We commissioned the review to provide assurance in the interests of public confidence and to identify any learnings based on an independent and objective assessment of the facts. It involved reviewing substantial documentary evidence and interviews of key staff. This detailed and considered work of a complex matter needed to be carried out carefully and in a fair, efficient and proportionate way.’

So that’s all right, then.