§ Lord Wedderburn of Charltonasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether their policy on rewards and benefits of company directors is represented by the speech of the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry of 25 April supporting "shareholders' entirely justified fury about excessive rewards to directors who have been responsible for corporate failure"; by the Welsh Secretary's view about the need to end "obscene levels of takeaways as a result of losing their jobs or misdirecting their companies"; or by the answer of the Lord Sainsbury of Turville accepting the view of the Lord Barnett that no legal meaning can be given to "excessive" and that "the answer to excessive rewards for failure depends on getting the contract right in the first place" (HL Deb, 11 March, cols. 1228/30). [HL2579]
151WA
§ Lord Sainsbury of TurvilleDirectors' remuneration is a matter for companies and their shareholders. The Government have recently legislated to improve transparency, accountability and performance linkage for directors' pay in quoted companies. We will also consult on issues relating to directors' contracts shortly.