Companies House: Filing of Annual Accounts by Small Companies

Debate between Lord Leong and Baroness Kramer

Tuesday 8th July 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Leong (Lab)]

The noble Viscount is absolutely right. We obviously do not have jurisdiction on foreign companies or companies registered outside the UK. Let me share some facts with the noble Viscount. Since 4 March 2024, Companies House has made significant progress in tackling false and misleading information on the register, using the new powers under the Act. Companies House has removed some 220,000 false and inappropriate addresses, some 52,000 people named on incorporations without their consent, and over 13,000 documents from the register, including something like 800 false mortgage satisfaction filings that previously required a court order. So we have come some way, but there is still a lot more to do, and Companies House is getting on with it.

[Baroness Kramer (LD)]

My Lords, perhaps the Minister can help me, because I have become very confused. Like the noble Lord, Lord Sikka, I understand from the Financial Times and others that the Government have decided to shelve the reforms in filing for small companies, even though most of those companies have upgraded their software already in order to meet the requirements of Making Tax Digital, so there is very little additional cost to a proper filing. Could he explain that, and also pick up on the pt made by the noble Lord, Lord Sikka, which is that there is broad evidence now that organised crime is increasingly using tools such as AI so that it can front various scams and sanctions-busting by using small companies?

[Lord Leong (Lab)]

The noble Baroness has obviously read various newspaper reports. I suggest to her, “Don’t believe everything you read from the papers”. As it stands now, most companies have to file abbreviated accounts, which, as the noble Baroness will know, is just a balance sheet. We are asking under this Act for them to file accounts. As I said earlier, we recognise the concerns raised by various stakeholders and we will set up next steps to address those recent concerns. When this happens, a statutory instrument will be placed and noble Lords can debate it.

UK Modern Industrial Strategy

Debate between Lord Leong and Baroness Kramer

Monday 30th June 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Kramer (LD)]

My Lords, we on these Benches remember how powerfully business welcomed the industrial strategy produced by Vince Cable during the coalition years, and the shock and dismay with which it greeted the Conservative decision, when that party was in government alone, first to weaken it and eventually to scrap it. Such a strategy is vital to drive business investment, good jobs and prosperity.

It was notable that the Conservatives not only scrapped the industrial strategy but sold off the Green Investment Bank. How different our energy position could have been today, had that not happened. They also readied the British Business Bank for sale; I remember direct conversations with Sajid Javid and his relief that it was to be done away with. It survived only because Covid struck and it was needed to distribute Covid loans.

Those constructive moves were pure ideology: in essence, it was private good, public bad. So I listened with interest to the Conservative Front Bench today and there is a change of tone but—my goodness—this country would have benefited had that change started a few years ago.

We find some common ground in one area. The Conservatives did not exactly name it, but we have talked about it in the past. Raising employers’ NICs, especially SME employers, was the wrong way to start the revival of business and enterprise.

We support core elements of the strategy, but we still have questions. My noble friend Lord Russell, if he has the opportunity to speak on this Statement, will talk much more about energy prices, because we welcome the help of a wider range of energy-intensive industries. But why would we wait another two years to find out who will qualify? What about the burden of electricity prices on service industries such as hospitality?

If the Government want to see a quantum growth in exports, the answer is surely to negotiate to rejoin the EU customs union. By comparison, everything else is small beer. Have the Government noticed today’s FT article charting the decline in productivity—especially in London, which is key to the economy—since Brexit? It played such a significant role, with its impact on business investment and the opportunity to participate in supply chains. This Government are keen on U-turns, so why not make a U-turn that would actually bring money into the country and the Treasury and work to find our way back into the EU customs union?

A business in rural England involved in agribusiness and farming would be asking, “Why does this strategy have so little for me?”, especially in an era of food insecurity, climate change and tariffs. Can the Minister elaborate and provide some reassurance? A business looking for skilled staff would welcome the funding boost for skills but ask, “Why not the fundamental reform of apprenticeships that we need, and where is lifelong learning?” Today’s report of a sharp drop in entry-level jobs surely underscores that need. Can they have a place in the strategy?

A creative reading the importance of data as an asset—in fact, the industrial strategy is quite good on the creative sector, but not on the importance of data as an asset—would ask why the Government have refused to strengthen copyright transparency rules to prevent the US mega-techs scraping intellectual property without recompense. Where is the logic and the justice, particularly when data is identified as critical?

An innovative small business would welcome the Government’s intention to use procurement to drive enterprise, but why do the rules still mean that the Government can then take the intellectual property of that small business and, on the grounds of transparency, give it to its competitors free of charge? This is an issue that my noble friend Lady Bowles raises often, and it still needs an answer.

One issue in particular grates with me. The Government have simply not grasped the need for access to finance for the whole breadth of small businesses, not just priority sectors such as high tech. To build our communities and make sure that good jobs and prospects are available everywhere, we cannot be in a position where small businesses grow from retained earnings only. We need a genuine community banking sector. The high street banks and most alternative finance is not interested in meeting the need. The British Business Bank has a small £150 million pot over the next two years to support community banking, but it is minimal compared, for example, to the $300 billion in community bank financing that is the backbone of small business finance and growth in the United States. Does the Minister understand that this is a missed opportunity?

In many ways, we see this industrial strategy as a positive and strong step forward, but we will not be in a full position to judge it until we see practical support and solutions. Implementation and delivery are key. I hope that, by the time we have such clarity, my noble friend Lord Fox, whose knowledge in this area is so much greater than mine, is back on these Benches. I can tell your Lordships that he will expect answers.

[Lord in Waiting/Government Whip (Lord Leong) (Lab)]

My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Sharpe, and the noble Baroness, Lady Kramer, for their contributions, but I am bitterly disappointed by the noble Lord’s remarks about the industrial strategy. He said that we should listen to business; I can safely say that we have.

Let me quote some of the comments from businesses. The Institute of Directors said:

“The Industrial Strategy is an important step towards the development of a positive and coherent plan to drive growth, and will enable businesses to see a sense of direction for the UK economy. For businesses to be able to plan for investment, it is crucial to have a stable policy environment. This whole-of-government approach is encouraging, not least as it draws together new and existing strands of activity into one cohesive strategy”.


Make UK, whose chairman is the noble Lord, Lord Harrington—a colleague of the noble Lord, Lord Sharpe—says:

“The Government has listened and the Secretary of State has acted decisively with a joined up strategy which reflects a wider commitment from the Prime Minister and Cabinet alike. The strategy announced today sets out comprehensive and well funded plans to address all three of these structural failings. Clearly there is much to do as we move towards implementation but, this will send a message across the Country and around the world that Britain is back in business”.


Furthermore, the leaders of the British Chambers of Commerce, the CBI and the Federation of Small Businesses said that:

“The Industrial Strategy … marks a significant step forward and a valuable opportunity for the business community to rally behind a new vision for the UK—boosting confidence, sentiment, and enthusiasm for investment. From start-ups and small businesses to large corporates, businesses need a more attractive, stable environment that enables faster, easier, and more certain investment decisions. We welcome the Government’s engagement with businesses across the UK. Much of what we’ve shared has been heard and reflected in this strategy. While there’s more to do, we are ready to support the next steps. We encourage businesses nationwide to get behind this strategy and champion the UK as the best place to live, work, invest, and do business”.


The UK is a thriving global economy, founded on stability, fairness and the rule of law, and propelled by world-leading sectors and companies. We have a record of extraordinary research and innovation. We are champions of openness and free trade, and we continue to be a magnet for international talent and capital. But, in recent decades, the pace and magnitude of global change have escalated, and the UK has been short of the dynamism it takes to stay ahead. The global trading environment has become more unpredictable, the fragility of the global supply chains more apparent, and our economic competitors have been more assertive and destructive in promoting their national industries. British workers and families have paid the price through the cost of living crisis.

Now more than ever, businesses are seeking out countries that can provide them with the confidence to invest and grow. As we set out in the plan for change, the Government’s priority mission is to deliver strong, secure and sustainable economic growth. The modern industrial strategy is a 10-year plan to kick-start an era of economic prosperity—the central mission in our plan for change—by investing in our comparative advantage and forging a new relationship between business and government.

It is a new economic approach that brings together every bit of government to drive investment. It will create a more connected, high-skilled and resilient economy where every person, place and business has the chance to flourish. Our plan will make it quicker and easier for businesses to invest, provide them certainty and stability to make long-term decisions and ensure they benefit from the UK’s openness to the world.

In order to do this, we are backing eight growth-driving sectors where the UK is already strong and has potential for faster growth: advanced manufacturing; clean energy industries; creative industries; defence; digital and technologies; financial services; life sciences; and professional and business services. With those globally competitive industries spread across the nation, there is potential to make the whole country more prosperous as they grow and become more successful. The deep partnerships developed with mayors and the devolved Administrations, support for city regions and clusters and investment in local transport networks will enable the delivery of real growth to local communities.

Our formal Invest 2035 consultation, published last year, identified a list of inputs from foundational industries—including electricity networks, ports, construction, steel, critical minerals, composites, materials and chemicals—that are important to unlocking growth in the key growth sectors. The industrial strategy will support the whole economy, including businesses outside the eight growth-driving sectors through an improved operating environment, long-term stability and greater dynamism for entrants to emerge.

Supporting growth sectors will also have spillover benefits for the rest of the economy, from innovation pull-through to technology diffusion. For example, gains from AI innovation alone could add up to some £47 billion a year for the UK in productivity gains over the next decade.

Regional growth is a core objective of the industrial strategy. Higher national growth and the success of the IS eight will come only from unleashing the potential of places across the whole of the United Kingdom. The industrial strategy and our sector plans include interventions that will grow our city regions and clusters and help them attract private investment. This includes: bringing together more investable sites with over £600 million for the strategic sites accelerator; helping places to land game-changing private investments with support from the Office for Investment, the National Wealth Fund and the Business British Bank; growing high-potential innovation clusters for the £500 million local innovation partnership fund; making a new £500 million mayoral recyclable growth fund available to invest in growth projects; and much more.

On access to finance, we are unlocking billions in finance to innovative businesses, especially for start-ups and scale-ups, by increasing the British Business Bank’s capacity to £25.6 billion. That includes an additional £4 billion for growth capital for industrial strategy sectors, crowding in billions more in private capital. By investing largely through venture funds, the BBB will back the UK’s most potential growth.

To conclude, I reiterate the words of my noble friend, the Secretary of State:

“We are creating a prosperous, proud and outward-facing but self-reliant, independent and high-skilled nation; a country where opportunity, skills and wealth are spread fairly, and where every person and every business have the chance to flourish. That is what our modern industrial strategy will deliver. Our future, in our hands, built in Britain: that is what the strategy will achieve”.

Employment Rights Bill

Debate between Lord Leong and Baroness Kramer

Committee stage
Monday 16th June 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Kramer (LD)]

My Lords, I speak to Amendment 251C through to Amendment 252, in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Sharpe. These amendments would introduce a wide range of limitations to the new right not to suffer detriment for participating in protected industrial action. The amendments seek to define and restrict the scope of protection, introducing exclusions based on business continuity, public safety, union membership status and compliance with employer instructions. They propose new requirements around compensation, such as proof of financial loss, statutory severity bans and caps on awards.

Although I understand the desire to ensure clarity and prevent misuse of these protections, I am concerned that, taken together, these amendments risk hollowing out the underlying right. They would place significant hurdles in the way of workers seeking redress and could undermine confidence in the fairness and accessibility of the system. I would be grateful if the Minister could clarify whether the Government support this overall direction of travel and how they intend to ensure that the core principle of protection from unfair treatment during lawful industrial action is preserved in practice.

[Lord in Waiting/Government Whip (Lord Leong) (Lab)]

My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness for her contribution, and I thank the noble Lord, Lord Sharpe of Epsom, for tabling these amendments. I ask noble Lords to bear with me as I respond to each of them.

I want to be clear about why this clause is required. Clause 73 inserts new Sections 236A to 236D into the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992. New Section 236A is required because the Supreme Court ruled in April 2024 that Section 146 of the 1992 Act is incompatible with Article 11 of the European Convention of Human Rights.

Amendments 251C, 251F, 251H and 251J are unnecessary as their purpose is already covered in existing legislation. In the case of Amendment 251C, Clause 73 already requires a ballot compliant with Section 226, as specified in Section 219(4) of the 1992 Act, and makes it clear that protection is limited to cases where the action is compliant. Furthermore, in the case of Amendment 251J, secondary action is already prohibited under Section 224 of the 1992 Act, and the new protection of Section 236A will not apply where the industrial action was unlawful secondary action.

With regard to Amendments 251F and 251H, Section 240 of the 1992 Act allows for criminal prosecution of those who intentionally and maliciously endanger life or cause serious injury to a person by going on strike. Furthermore, if an act of an employer is motivated primarily by health and safety concerns, not for the sole or main purpose of preventing or deterring the employee from taking protected industrial action or penalising them, they have a defence from detriment claims, and the tribunals will consider whether the employer’s act or failure to act constitutes detriment.

Amendments 251D and 252 seek to prejudge a full and open consultation on this issue by setting out circumstances in which the detriment protection will not apply. We will prescribe detriments in secondary legislation only once we have conducted a comprehensive consultation seeking views across the public, including those of workers, employers, trade unions and all other stakeholders.

With reference to Amendment 252, that protection from prescribed detriment applies only where the sole or main purpose of subjecting the worker to detriment is to prevent, deter or penalise the worker from taking protected industrial action; for example, if a worker is subjected to detriment solely or mainly because they have harassed or bullied non-striking workers, the protection will not apply. I can be clear that criminal law will continue to apply to pickets.

Amendment 251E would be an unnecessary limitation on the protections from detriment. The prohibitions that new Section 236A places on an employer are clear: the sole or main purpose of the action must be to deter or penalise industrial action, which would not apply in the case of genuine maintenance of critical operations. Amendment 251G would be an unreasonable restriction to apply to detriment protections. Non-union members have the right to participate in official protected industrial action and, where that is the case, must be afforded the same protections from detriment as union members.

Amendments 251L and 251N would place a burden on individuals to prove that they had suffered financial or economic loss as a result of detriment, and would limit the circumstances where they were eligible for compensation. These hurdles and limits would potentially deter them from engaging in industrial action, limiting compliance with the Supreme Court ruling and Article 11.

Amendments 251M and 251P seek to restrict compensation with regard to business deeds. I want to be clear that an employer’s action or failure to act in relation to prescribed detriments will be a legal obligation that cannot be breached proportionately, and there is no legitimate business interest defence for seeking to deter or penalise an employee for taking protected industrial action.

Amendment 251K seeks to establish bands of detriment severity of “minor”, “serious” and “extreme”, and would require the Secretary of State to specify maximum compensation limits for each, which tribunals would have to comply with. New Section 236D is already clear that employment tribunals must have regard to any loss sustained by a claimant that is attributable to the actions of, or failures to take action by, an employer. Therefore, tribunals will award compensation based on what the tribunal considers to be just and equitable and will be able to proportionately determine the amount of compensation, taking into account all the relevant circumstances. I hope I have reassured the noble Lord. I therefore ask him to withdraw Amendment 251C.

Corporate Liquidations

Debate between Lord Leong and Baroness Kramer

Tuesday 10th June 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Leong (Lab)]

My Lords, of course these are disappointing figures, but six months after launching Get Britain Working we are seeing real results, with economic activity at a record high, half a million more people in jobs since we took office and real wages having grown more since July than at any other time in the last decade. It is also worth noting that the latest GDP figures tell a very different story, up 7% in Q1 of this year, showing the UK economy’s resilience and potential. These indicators suggest a labour market that remains robust and responsive, not one that is being held back.

[Baroness Kramer (LD)]

My Lords, does the Minister agree that what was worrying about the liquidation numbers in 2024 was the increase in compulsory liquidations? That came ahead of the NICs increases, so it is a real red flag. The businesses that I speak to are desperately depending on the industrial strategy to restore their prospects. Can the Minister assure the House that the IS will include a focus on small businesses, including opportunities for government procurement? Will the Government reverse their policy of demanding that SMEs cede ownership of their intellectual property if they enter into even a small government contract?

[Lord Leong (Lab)]

My Lords, I assure the noble Baroness that we will publish our industrial strategy very soon, and it will definitely cover SMEs. As I mentioned earlier, compulsory liquidation is not something new. Companies go bust. We have seen big companies fail. Failure is a reality of business. Even major firms such as Ted Baker, The Body Shop and Wilko have collapsed. We should be thinking about how to support these corporate failures. We must have a more robust system, whether it is the credit system that needs reforming or even British banks. We must incorporate the American culture. Yes, we have to address failures, but more important is how we get up, dust ourselves down and get on to the business market again.

Employment Rights Bill

Debate between Lord Leong and Baroness Kramer

Committee stage
Tuesday 29th April 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Kramer (LD)]

Before the Minister sits down, could he answer my question on whether or not there will be a code of practice? I can see many businesses struggling their way through all this stuff. I think his attempt to clarify the complex algorithm illustrates the need for such a code very powerfully.

[Lord Leong (Lab)]

I thank the noble Baroness for her question, which I have written down. In response to an earlier grouping, my noble friend the Minister said that the Government would publish detailed guidance on the government website, which I hope will give some clarity on that.