The 13.5% budget increase is set out in the regulator’s 2023-2026 draft 3-Year Plan which sets out its priorities for the next three years and the resources it will need to achieve them.

Overall, the budgeted cost of the FRC and the UK Endorsement Board will increase to £67.9m, up from £59.8m last year, with a 9.7% increase in budgeted headcount by March 2024.

The FRC plans a 16% increase in the budget for supervisory activities to £23.8m, up from £20m, to ‘deliver assertive supervision’. This will allow the regulator to deliver a full programme of high-quality AQR inspections, corporate reporting reviews and statutory professional oversight functions.

The plan reflects the delay in the introduction of legislation to create the Audit, Reporting and Governance Authority (ARGA), which has had an impact on the associated increase in capacity, cost and headcount previously expected to occur in 2023.