Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of implementing the proposals of the Better Business Act campaign.

The Better Business Act campaign makes a constructive proposal for a new legal duty on directors with regard to society and the environment, but the Government is not convinced that it is workable. Section 172 of the Companies Act already requires directors to have regard to the environment, employees, customers and suppliers, among other matters. Since 2019, directors of large companies have been required to make an annual statement describing how they have had regard to these matters.