§ Mr. Wainwrightasked the Secretary of State For Trade and Industry what action he intends to take against the 377,845 companies now in default of their obligations to deliver annual returns for one or more years; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Alexander FletcherNeither the Secretary of State nor the Registrar of Companies is placed under arty statutory obligation by the Companies Acts to follow up those companies which default in their obligations to deliver documents to the registrar.
However, in recent years, despite a steady rise in the statutory functions of incorporating companies and registering those documents which are delivered to him, the registrar has always taken action against those companies where the failure to comply with their statutory obligations to deliver documents has been the subject of a public complaint, in addition to taking selective automatic reminder action against other companies consistent with the resources at his disposal.
In October 1982, some 30 temporary clerical staff were recruited to extend this action, in respect of a large number of the more persistent defaulters. Up to the end of June, some 126,000 reminder letters had been sent out, and an additional 140,000 annual returns have been received, compared with the same period 12 months earlier. It is estimated that at least 25 per cent. of the companies apparently in default are no longer in business or operation, and will in due course be struck off the register under the terms of Section 353 of the Companies Act 1948.