§ Mr. Campbell-Savoursasked the Secretary of State for Trade how many searches were undertaken at the companies registration offices in London and Cardiff, respectively, during the following five day periods of (a) 2 to 6 March 1981 and (b) 7 to 11 December 1981 by the general public on white search tickets.
§ Mr. EyreThe figures requested are as follows:
2 to 6 March 1981 7 to 11 December 1981 London 25, 167 5, 325 Cardiff 3, 005 749
§ Mr. Campbell-Savoursasked the Secretary of State for Trade how many searches were undertaken at the companies registration offices in London and Cardiff, respectively, during the following five day periods of (a) 2 to 6 March 1981 and (b) 7 to 11 December 1981 by agents on red search tickets.
§ Mr. EyreThe figures requested are as follows:
2 to 6 March 1981 7 to 11 December 1981 London 34, 218 23, 909 Cardiff 6, 914 5, 742
§ Mr. Campbell-Savoursasked the Secretary of State for Trade how many company search requests were waiting to be processed at the end of the Civil Service strike in the summer of 1981; of these, how many had been placed by (a) agents and (b) the general public; and how many in each case were carried out on (i) 5p search tickets and (ii) £1 search tickets.
§ Mr. EyreA total of 298, 669 search applications were awaiting processing when it recommenced on 21 August. Excluding those made by Government Departments, the following had been made by agents and the general public at 5p or £1 respectively:
462W
5p £1 Total Agents 134, 828 76, 873 211, 701 Public 48, 440 12, 595 61, 035 Total 183, 268 89, 468 272, 736
§ Mr. Campbell-Savoursasked the Secretary of State for Trade what progress has been made towards introducing a partial search service at the companies registration offices of the type referred to in the Minister's speech to the Fifth Standing Committee on Statutory Instruments &c. on 10 December 1980.
§ Mr. EyreUsers of the services provided by the companies registration offices in England and Wales have been informed that changes are to be made in the structure of the microfiche records of companies to enable searchers to be offered a partial record comprising the most recent annual return and accounts only, together with any subsequent amendments to the detail contained therein. This can only be achieved, however, over a period of some years, and I cannot anticipate at present when this facility will be available on a general basis. For the time being, the Directory of Companies, now on free display at the search rooms in London and Cardiff, provides basic company information sufficient to satisfy completely some searches.