§ Mr. Tim Smithasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he now expects to introduce measures to consolidate company law; how many Bills he expects to introduce; what will be the short title of each; and whether they will incorporate the changes to company law 530W (a) made by the Stock Exchange (Listing) Regulations 1984 and (b) recommended by the Law Commission in its report, Obsolete Provisions in the Companies Act 1948.
§ Mr. Norman LamontI expect measures to consolidate company law to be introduced at the earliest opportunity in the next Session: the complexity and size of the project has made it impossible to bring forward the Bills in the present Session. This change will delay entry into force by at most six months—from 1 January until 1 July 1985—and possibly less. We expect there to be four Bills and their short titles to be:—
- Companies Bill
- Company Securities (Insider Dealing) Bill
- Business Names Bill
- Companies Consolidation (Consequential Provisions) Bill
As regards the Stock Exchange (Listing) Regulations 1984 only the repeals in regulation 7(4) and not the substantive provisions will be reflected in the consolidation.
The changes recommended by the Law Commission in its report, "Obsolete Provisions in the Companies Act 1948", will be incorporated.