§ Mr. Allen McKayasked the Secretary of State for Trade (1) whether, in view of the Companies House service having made a profit of £2.9 million in 1978, he will resist any attempts to cut this service, and strengthen and improve it in the interests of improved disclosure of information;
(2) if it is his intention to cut the service by Companies House by (a) abolishing the discretionary power to allow companies to omit "Limited" in their name and the requirement to include directors' names on business documents, (b) abolishing the registry of business names, (c) abolishing the discretionary power covering undisposable company names, (d) replacing the "on demand" public search service with one based upon 24 hours' notice, and (e) ceasing company file maintenance.
§ Mr. EyreAll Departmental functions are being reviewed, including the functions of the registrars of companies and business names, to determine the scope for reductions in the size of the civil service. The fact that a function is fee-earning does not mean that it should be excluded from this exercise.