§ Mr. GibbTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many company directors were disqualified for one or more Companies Act 1985 offences for failing to keep adequate accounting records in each year since 1987. [61959]
§ Dr. Howells[holding answer 1 December 1998]: There are no known instances since 1987 where a director has been disqualified solely for failing to keep adequate accounting records.
§ Mr. GibbTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many companies were(a) found guilty and (b) fined for not disclosing to the public that a director has (i) resigned and (ii) been appointed within two weeks of that resignation under section 288 of the Companies Act 1985 in each year since 1987. [61955]
Section of the Act General nature of the offence Mode of prosecution Punishment S 221(5) or 222(4) Company failing to keep accounting records (liabilities of the officers) 1. On indictment 2. Summary 2 years or a fine: or both 6 months or the statutory maximum, £5,000; or both S 222(6) Officer of company failing to secure compliance with, or intentionally causing default under section 222(5) (preservation of accounting records for requisite number of years) 1. On indictment 2. Summary 2 years or a fine: or both 6 months or the statutory maximum, £5,000; or both
§ Mr. GibbTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many company directors were found guilty of approving accounts which did not comply with the Companies Act 1985 in each year since 1987. [61954]
§ Dr. Howells[holding answer 1 December 1998]: There were no prosecutions for the years 1987–1998 under the provisions of section 223(5) of the Companies Act 1985, as amended.
§ Mr. GibbTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what was the average fine levied on a company director convicted of approving accounts which did not comply with the requirements of the Companies Act 1985 in(a) 1995, (b) 1996 and (c) 1997; [61949]
(2) how many directors were fined in 1997, and for what amounts, for approving accounts which did not comply with the requirements of the Companies Act 1985; [61952]
(3) how many company directors have been fined, and for what amounts, for approving accounts which did not comply with the requirements of the Companies Act 1985 in each year since 1987. [61950]
§ Dr. Howells[holding answer 1 December 1998]: There is no record of any company directors being fined for approving accounts which did not comply with the requirements of the Companies Act 1985 for the years in question.
§ Mr. GibbTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what is the maximum punishment for conviction as a director of a company which fails to file an annual return which discloses the names of the directors and owners of the company within 28 days of its due date under section 363 of the Companies Act 1985; [61961]
148W
§ Dr. Howells[holding answer 1 December 1998]: Since 1987 three convictions have been secured under section 288 of the Companies Act 1985. These convictions were obtained in the year 1990–91 but there is no record of the fines, if any, imposed.
§ Mr. GibbTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what is the maximum available punishment following a conviction as a director of a company which failed to keep adequate accounting records. [61951]
§ Dr. Howells[holding answer 1 December 1998]: There are a number of penalties laid out in respect of punishment following conviction of a director of a company which failed to keep adequate accounting records. These are set out as follows under section 730, Schedule 24 of the Companies Act 1985.
(2) what is the maximum punishment following conviction for being a director of a company which fails to file financial accounts with Companies House within (i) seven months and (ii) 10 months of the end of the period of account; [61948]
(3) what is the maximum punishment for a company which does not disclose to the public that a director has (a) been appointed and (b) resigned within two weeks of that resignation under section 288 of the Companies Act 1985. [61960]
§ Dr. Howells[holding answer 1 December 1998]: A fine of up to £5,000 (the statutory maximum).
§ Mr. GibbTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many company directors have been(a) imprisoned or (b) fined over the last 10 years for approving accounts which do not comply with the requirements of the Companies Act 1985; and what is the maximum (i) prison sentence and (ii) fine which may be imposed. [61958]
§ Dr. Howells[holding answer 1 December 1998]: There have been no instances in the last ten years of fines or imprisonment of company directors for offences, in relation to approval of accounts that do not comply with the requirements of the Companies Act 1985. There are no provisions to imprison directors who fail to comply and the amount of fine is not specified.
§ Mr. GibbTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) how many company directors were (i) found guilty and (ii) fined for failing to file an annual return which disclosed the names of the directors and owners of the company within 28 days of its due date under section 363 of the Companies Act 1985 in each year since 1987; [61947]
149W(2) how many company directors were fined for being a director of a company which failed to file financial accounts with Companies House within (a) seven months and (b) 10 months of the end of the period of account in each year since 1987; [61957]
(3) how many company directors were found guilty of failing to file financial accounts with Companies House within (i) seven months and (ii) 10 months of the end of the period of account in each year since 1987; and how many were fined. [61956]
§ Dr. Howells[holding answer 1 December 1998]: There are no figures available to answer pq 61956 and pq 61957. However, the total number of directors convicted each year since 1987 for failing to deliver annual returns and/or accounts on time to the Registrar are as follows:
Year Number 1987–88 1,574 1988–89 1,178 1989–90 1,635 1990–91 1,962 1991–92 1,716 1992–93 1,915 1993–94 1,285 1994–95 987 1995–96 636 1996–97 695 1997–98 745 There are no figures available to show the number of directors convicted and fined during the years concerned for failing to deliver annual returns only.
§ Mr. GibbTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many company directors have been found guilty of failing to keep adequate accounting records in each year since 1987; and what penalties were imposed. [61953]
§ Dr. HowellsThe number of company directors that have been prosecuted for failure to keep or preserve accounting records in accordance with sections 221–223 of the Companies Act 1985 were:
S 221–223 failure to keep or preserve accounting records Year Offence Prosecutions Convictions Numbers of charges where a conviction was not obtained 1997–98 S 221–223 134 64 70 1996–97 S 221–223 71 38 33 1995–96 S 221–223 32 22 10 1994–95 S 221–223 68 33 35 1993–94 S 221–223 118 61 57 1992–93 S 221–223 171 105 66 1991–92 S 221–223 118 69 49 1990–91 S 221–223 99 71 28 1989–90 S 221–223 116 93 23 1988–89 S 221–223 90 77 13 Statistics for earlier periods are not available and to research this information would involve disproportionate cost. Similarly there are no available records which show the level of penalties imposed for the above years. To research and gather this information would involve 150W reference to a number of sources, such as records of Magistrate's Courts, and again the work involved would be disproportionate.