§ Mr. CousinsTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what consultations he has had on proposals to require the declarations of payment practices in company accounts and reports; and what conclusions he has reached.
§ Mr. Neil HamiltonMy Department issued on 25 January a consultative document on the options for taking forward our commitment that in future large companies will be required to state in their report and accounts how quickly they pay. The deadline for comments in 27 March. A copy of the document has been placed in the Library.
§ Mr. CousinsTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on the working of the current requirements for disclosure of research and development expenditure in company accounts; and what plans he has to extend disclosure.
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§ Mr. Neil HamiltonI have no reason to believe that the current requirements, which are contained in the Companies Act 1985 and Statement of Standard Accounting Practice No. 13, are not being generally complied with. I have no plans to extend the statutory requirements.
§ Mr. CousinsTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what is the membership of the Association of Authorised Public Accountants; and who performs the monitoring arrangements required by the Companies Act 1989.
§ Mr. Neil HamiltonI refer the hon. Member to the association's first annual report under section 37 of the Companies Act 1989, a copy of which has been placed in the Library.