§ Mr. Murphyasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans he has for the reform of company law.
§ Mr. HowardMy Department has today published a consultative document on reform of the ultra vires rule inviting comments on the report on that subject which Dr. Dan Prentice of Oxford university has prepared at my request. Copies of the document have been placed in the Library. A further consultative document on requirements regarding the filing of annual returns and accounts at the companies registration offices will be published shortly. More generally, we are considering a number of other possible reforms with the need to remove unnecessary administrative burdens and the particular interests of small companies very much in mind.