§ 67. Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he will give, for the longest and most convenient stated period of time, details of the number of prosecutions that have been instituted against the directors of the 200,000 limited liability companies who have broken the 1948 and 1967 Companies Acts in failing to submit their company's returns as laid down under these statutes.
§ Mr. RidleyMany of these companies have ceased to operate. 873 directors were prosecuted in 1971 under Section 126 of the Companies Act, 1948. Figures for earlier years are not readily available.
§ 68. Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he will give details of the number of reminders sent out by Companies House to limited liability companies 15W drawing their attention to failure to submit proper company accounts during 1971; how many subsequent reminders were sent; how many prosecutions ensued; and with what results.
§ Mr. RidleyAbout 11,000 first reminders were sent in 1971 and about 21,000 further reminders of various sorts. These, and the threat of prosecution, resulted in compliance in the majority of cases, and some companies were struck off the register as being no longer in operation. Five companies and their directors were prosecuted and four convictions were obtained.