§ 99. Mr. Mikardoasked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will bring up to the latest convenient date the information showing the amount of political contributions made by companies and disclosed in accordance with the Companies Act, 1967.
§ Mr. DellThe requirement to disclose information about political contributions in the directors' report applies to financial years of companies ending after 26th January, 1968. Not all companies have yet sent to the Board of Trade a directors' report for a financial year ending after that date. Reports received from companies with net assets exceeding £500,000 or profits exceeding £50,000 show political contributions totalling £176,124. To extract information from the reports of smaller companies would involve an undue expense of time and effort.