§ Mr. Stephen Rossasked the Secretary of State for Trade why the Registry of Business Names is no longer answering postal inquiries; and whether he is prepared to require it to reinstate the service.
§ Mr. Clinton DavisThe Registry of Business Names and the Companies Registration Office operate as one combined unit for this purpose. The postal enquiry services previously offered by both have been discontinued because the volume of work arising from their statutory duties continues to increase and it is no longer possible to provide the staff needed for the postal enquiry services, which are non-statutory functions. The staff previously employed on these services are being redeployed on the statutory duties of the branch, and I regret that I cannot reconsider my decision.