§ Mr. BellinghamTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if her Department will carry out an investigation into the insolvency of Ballast UK to determine whether there have been breaches of insolvency law. [168917]
§ Mr. SutcliffeThere is no UK company registered as Ballast UK. There is a company called Ballast plc, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of a Dutch company, Ballast Nedam NV, and which went into Administration on 15 October 2003.
The administrator has a statutory duty to report to the Secretary of State on the conduct of the directors, and this is usually received by the Insolvency Service within six months of the appointment date. In the case of Ballast plc the administrator has not yet submitted his report. However, once this is received it will be reviewed by The Insolvency Service to ascertain whether disqualification proceedings are in the public interest.
Disqualification can be for a period of up to 15 years and bars individuals from taking part in the management of a limited company.