Asked by: Kelvin Hopkins (Independent - Luton North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether (a) he and (b) officials in his Department have plans to hold meetings with (i) Sudhir Choudhrie and (ii) representatives of Sudhir Choudhrie.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The Department has no such plans.
Asked by: Kelvin Hopkins (Independent - Luton North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make an assessment of the applicability of the Government of India's list of Undesirable Contact Men in decision-making on people that intend to undertake business in the UK.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has no plans to make such assessments.
Asked by: Kelvin Hopkins (Independent - Luton North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make an assessment of the applicability of Government of India international blacklists in decision-making on people that intend to undertake business in the UK.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has no plans to make such assessments.
Asked by: Kelvin Hopkins (Independent - Luton North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if will amend the insolvency legislation to provide for an independent ombudsman to advise on disputes.
Answered by Andrew Griffiths
The insolvency of a party will not necessarily prevent the use of existing dispute resolution mechanisms such as mediation and arbitration. If, however, insolvency related remedies are sought, for example in relation to claims against directors, preference claims, claims to set aside transactions at undervalue, steps will need to be undertaken to ensure appropriate authority is provided by the court.
Insolvency practitioners deal with a number of conflicting interests and their authorising bodies cannot intervene in, or adjudicate upon, disputes of a commercial or legal nature. Ultimately, it is for the Courts to adjudicate upon commercial disputes and disagreements about the application of insolvency law.
Where there are concerns about the actions of an insolvency practitioner, these should in the first instance be raised directly with the practitioner. If this fails to resolve the matter, then a complaint can be made through the Insolvency Service’s Complaints Gateway at: https://www.gov.uk/complain-about-insolvency-practitioner. In June 2013, we established this new gateway to provide a single point of entry for complaints about insolvency practitioners following collaborative discussions between the Insolvency Service and the bodies that authorise insolvency practitioners. The Gateway handles circa 700 complaints annually.
Given the existing options for resolving disputes, I am not proposing to make any changes at this time.
Asked by: Kelvin Hopkins (Independent - Luton North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps are taken by Companies House to ensure the legibility of the documents submitted to it.
Answered by Andrew Griffiths
Documents filed with Companies House should be legible and enable Companies House to make an acceptable copy of the document for the public record. Documents are examined for legibility before they are accepted for registration and may be returned if an examiner believes they do not meet the legibility requirements. Should Companies House receive a public complaint, or become aware in some other way, that a document is not legible, it will contact the company and request a new copy of the document.
Asked by: Kelvin Hopkins (Independent - Luton North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will take steps to ensure that Companies House holds a legible copy of the Thames Water Utilities 2017-18 annual accounts.
Answered by Andrew Griffiths
When Thames Water Utilities Limited files its accounts for 2017-18 they will be subject to Companies House’s usual examination checks. These include checks to ensure a legible copy can be made for the Public Record. If Companies House is not satisfied a legible copy can be made it will reject them and ask for a copy that meets the requirements.
Asked by: Kelvin Hopkins (Independent - Luton North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will publish the number of companies with (a) 500 to 1,000 and (b) more than 1,000 employees.
Answered by Andrew Griffiths
Data that relies on company filings such as annual reports as its source shows that, as at 27 June 2018, 3,263 UK companies report that they have between 500 and 1,000 employees; and 3,573 UK companies report that they have more than 1,000 employees.
Asked by: Kelvin Hopkins (Independent - Luton North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, which body has responsibility for monitoring the good governance of the recognised professional bodies.
Answered by Andrew Griffiths
The Insolvency Service, an executive agency of the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, regulates the Recognised Professional Bodies on behalf of my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State.
The Recognised Professional Bodies, when discharging their regulatory functions, are required to act in a way which is compatible with statutory regulatory objectives. The Insolvency Service has a range of powers exercisable against the Recognised Professional Bodies if these objectives are not met.
Asked by: Kelvin Hopkins (Independent - Luton North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will publish a table showing the number of (a) individuals and (b) firms licenced by each of the recognised professional bodies.
Answered by Andrew Griffiths
The number of insolvency practitioners licensed by each of the 5 Recognised Professional Bodies is published every year as part of The Insolvency Service’s ‘Annual Review of Insolvency Practitioner Regulation’. The most recent report was published on 11 May 2018 and is available on Gov.uk
Only individuals, not firms, can be licensed to act as insolvency practitioners.
The Insolvency Service maintains a public register of insolvency practitioners, including the names of firms, which is available online.
Asked by: Kelvin Hopkins (Independent - Luton North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make it his policy to amend the Companies Act 2006 to reduce the number of recognised supervisory bodies.
Answered by Andrew Griffiths
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has no such plans. The Recognised Supervisory Bodies have an important role in approving and registering statutory auditors, inspecting their work and investigating possible instances of professional misconduct. The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) oversees the work of RSBs and has particular responsibilities of its own where there is a public interest in an independent body fulfilling these tasks.