§ Mr. Shersbyasked the Secretary of State for Trade how many companies should have filed annual returns for 1974 and 1975; how many have not done so and what estimate his Department has made of the percentage of the latter which can be attributed to (a) companies not yet commenced to trade or not trading, (b) companies whose tax liabilities have been settled, (c) errors by the Registrar's staff, (d) mistakes, and (e) frauds.
§ Mr. Clinton DavisWe estimate that about 514,000 companies were required to lodge annual returns with the Registrar for 1974, of which 93,000 are still outstanding. The comparable figures for 1975 are 522,000 and 82,000. These ex-clue in each year companies recently in-
186Wcorporatedor in the process of removal from the register. Statistics are not maintained to show the cause of default and accordingly I am unable to give any estimates.