§ Lord YOUNG of DARTINGTONasked Her Majesty's Government:
What steps can be taken to prevent building societies operating voting procedures against the interests of the membership at large by manipulating proxy forms in order to maintain existing directors in office.
§ The MINISTER of STATE, TREASURY (Lord Cockfield)The rules of every building society are required by law to provide for the voting rights of members, and every member entitled to attend and vote at a meeting of a society is entitled by law to appoint a proxy to vote in his place. The law also requires that the rules of the society should specify the manner in which disputes between members and the society are to be heard and determined, and any member who has a complaint about the conduct of an election held under the rules of the society may use this procedure.
Within this framework, it is for the members to ensure that the rules operate in the interests of the membership at large, and to ensure that elections are conducted in accordance with the rules.
House adjourned at thirteen minutes before ten o'clock.