7 This report examines:
■ actions taken by the Treasury to stabilise Northern Rock and avoid any wider impacts on the financial system (Part 1);
■ the search for a longer term solution to Northern Rock's difficulties that protected the interests of the taxpayer (Part 2);
■ the oversight of Northern Rock in public ownership (Part 3);
■ the capacity of the Treasury to handle a company restructuring which was unusual and highly complex (Part 4).
8 Our methodology is summarised at Appendix 2. This report does not consider:
■ the causes of Northern Rock's problems and the implications for the regulatory regime operated by the Financial Services Authority, both of which are outside our statutory audit responsibilities and have been examined in detail by the House of Commons Treasury Committee (see Appendix 3); or
■ the consequences for the Bank of England's oversight of stability in the financial system, which is also outside our statutory audit and, along with changes to the framework for handling banks in difficulty, are the subject of the Banking Act 2009.