HC Deb 28 July 1947 vol 441 cc196-7
The Solicitor-General

I beg to move, in page 24, line 32, to leave out "other than a private company," and to insert: which is subject to this section. This Amendment and the following Amendment are designed to pave the way for an Amendment which is intended to meet the point made by my hon. Friend the Member for South Cardiff (Mr. Callaghan). The Amendment deals with Clause 30, which relates to the retiring age of directors. The point made during the Committee stage by the hon. Member for South Cardiff was that the Clause should apply to a subsidiary of a public company in the same way as it applies to a public company. At the moment private companies are excluded, and the proposal the hon. Member advanced was that if the private company was a subsidiary to the public company the Clause should nevertheless apply to it. He put down an Amendment to that effect and we have in these Amendments and in a subsequent Amendment to Clause 30—page 25, line 38—sought to deal with his Amendment from the drafting point of view.

Amendment agreed to.

12 m.

Further Amendment made: In page 24, line 34, leave out "other than a private company," and insert: which is subject to this section."—[The Solicitor-General.]

The Solicitor-General

I beg to move, in page 25, line 38, at the end to insert: (8) A company shall be subject to this section if it is not a private company or if, being a private company, it is the subsidiary of a body corporate incorporated in the United Kingdom which is neither a private company nor a company registered under the law relating to companies for the time being in force in Northern Ireland and having provisions in its constitution which would, if it had been registered in Great Britain, entitle it to lank as a private company; and for the purposes of any other section of this Act which refers to a company subject to this section a company shall be deemed to be subject to this section notwithstanding that all or any of the provisions thereof are excluded or modified by the company's articles. This is the Amendment of which I have just spoken. It is the one which contains a full definition of a public company.

Amendment agreed to.

Mr. Ronald Chamberlain (Norwood)

On a point of Order, Mr. Speaker. Do I understand that the Amendment in my name will not be called?

Mr. Speaker

I did not select it.

Mr. Chamberlain

Is there no opportunity of raising it?

Mr. Speaker

There is no opportunity if I do not select it.