Companies (Northern Ireland) Order 1978

HC Deb 05 November 1979 vol 973 cc84-5W

Mr. J. Enoch Powell

asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he expects to make regulations bringing the Companies (Northern Ireland) Order 1978 into effect.

Mr. Giles Shaw

Almost half the order has been brought into operation by three commencement orders already made by the Department of Commerce. Two parts of the order, and some individual related articles, are still to be brought into effect. They deal with:

1. (i) the winding-up of companies and the introduction of an official assignee service for company liquidation, and
2. (ii) the accounting and audit provisions.

Work has begun on the necessary subordinate legislation, rules, forms and instructions which are a prerequisite to bringing the winding-up provisions into operation, but it is considered inappropriate to implement the accounting and audit provisions until the results of consultations on the proposals contained in the consultative document on company accounting and disclosure—Cmnd 7654—have been considered.