The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) and The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS) are to jointly commission a major project that will investigate the competencies and professional skills of auditors.

The project is being commissioned as a contribution towards restoring market confidence through improving audit quality and re-building trust in the audit profession.

The report will consider whether a fundamental reassessment of the auditor's skills and competencies is required to create an audit team that can repair confidence and meet the challenges of a changing landscape.

It will also explore the mix of skills that need to be combined in an audit team in order for it to perform a high quality public interest audit, and look at associated staffing models and training implications.

The year-long study will be running concurrently with the implementation of measures that have been taken and that are being considered by, among others, the FRC, the government, the European Commission and the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board; to address the value of audit and to reform the audit market.

Richard Fleck, chairman of the FRC conduct committee, who will chair the project's Steering Committee, said: 'As corporate reporting changes to better integrate narrative and financial reporting so too may the nature of audit; including the need for more involvement by the auditor in the narrative elements of the annual report. Against this backdrop, it is also likely that the attributes, competencies, professional skills and qualities required of auditors will need to evolve in order to keep pace with the needs and expectations of stakeholders.'

Allister Wilson, convener of ICAS' research committee, said: 'There needs to be greater understanding and clarity around the skills and competencies an auditor needs to meet public expectations, maintain their objectivity and exercise effective judgement and professional scepticism.'