Company Legislation (Hansard, 23 October 1990)

§ Mr. Austin Mitchell
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he plans to introduce any legislation to require shareholders to be informed of the company's policy for controlling pollution.

§ Mr. Redwood
No. It would be burdensome to require companies to provide such information. Companies are best placed to decide, in the light of their individual circumstances, whether such information is likely to be of interest to their members. Interested members may in any case put questions on this subject at the annual general meeting.

§ Mr. Austin Mitchell
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he will seek to introduce legislation to require companies(a) to state their environmental policies in their annual report and (b) to inform their shareholders of the number of times they have violated any anti-pollution laws.

§ Mr. Redwood
No. It would be unreasonably burdensome to require companies to provide such information. Companies are best placed to decide, in the light of their individual circumstances, whether such information is likely to be of interest to their members and other users of their reports and accounts. Interested shareholders may in any case put questions on these subjects at the annual general meeting.