§ Mr. Denzil DaviesI beg to move amendment No. 7, in page 15, line 15, leave out fourteen 'and insert twenty-one'.
This amendment results from an undertaking I gave in Committee. There was some discussion as to whether 14 days should be 14 working days. There are problems of drafting, and in Committee I said that I would prefer to extend the period. This amendment extends the period to 21 days.
§ Mr. EmeryI have to speak as I find my name placed on this amendment immediately under that of the Chancellor of the Exchequer. That is not because I have changed sides but because we both, together, put down amendments of exactly the same wording. Therefore, occasionally my drafting can be accurate and correct.
I am grateful to the Minister for taking the point I made in Committee. I understand his wish not to proceed with the period of 14 working days. For anybody who comes in to this debate new and does not know quite what we are talking about, the reason why there appeared to be the need for a longer period which a company could have before it was in default concerning notification of a change of director was best illustrated by the holiday period this Christmas.
If a decision on a change of director had been made on 21 December 1978, in the 14 days originally in the Bill we would have had two Saturdays, two Sundays, a bank holiday for Christmas day in lieu of the Saturday, a boxing day holiday in lieu of the Sunday, and a new year's day holiday. Therefore, the 14 days would have been cut to seven. If we include the Friday prior to the Christmas holiday weekend, when most Government offices in Whitehall were closed and many civil servants on leave—so were many bankers; it was not one-sided—then we would have reduced the period of 14 days to six.
In Committee we were considering using working days, and this would have extended the period from 21 December 1978 to 12 January 1979. The amendment 1211 that we now look like accepting would extend that period from 21 December 1978 to 11 January 1979. That seems quite reasonable, and it overcomes some difficulties which large companies have in processing board minutes before notification can go forward to the necessary authority.
I am delighted to welcome the Minister's amendment, which seems to meet all the points we wished.
§ Amendment agreed to.