§ Mr. CousinsTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what action he has taken, and pro-poses to take, on the recommendations of the Likierman review of professional liability.
§ Mr. Redwood[holding answer 19 June 1990]: I refer the hon. Member to the statement I made in answer to a question from my hon. Friend the Member for Banbury (Mr. Baldry) on 31 October 1989, at columns 106–08. Of the two recommendations of the auditors study team which fall to my Department, the proposal to clarify the law on directors' insurance, to enable a company to reimburse a director for his liability insurance, has been implemented in section 137 of the Companies Act 1989. However, as my statement made clear, we decided against the recommendation that an auditor should, by agreement with a company, be able to limit his liability. As to the recommendation of the other surveyors study team on the implementation of section 22 of the Estate Agents Act 1979, my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Industry and Consumer Affairs stated on 29 November, in answer to a question from the hon. Member for Knowsley, South (Mr. Hughes), at columns 284–85, that we had decided against implementation. Other recommendations are for other Departments and my right hon. Friend has no proposals for further action.