Covid Fraud

Lord Pitkeathley of Camden Town Excerpts

Monday 29th June 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

While I absolutely accept what the noble Baroness says about the evolving nature of fraud, I am not sure that I fully accept it is becoming as overwhelming as she says. I understand that the FCA is engaged in cracking down on exactly the type of practice she outlines, and we fully support its actions to do so.

[Lord Pitkeathley of Camden Town (Lab)]

My Lords, I declare my interest as a previous small business owner. While greater transparency for regulators is clearly desirable, can the Minister confirm that the Government have listened to concerns from small businesses about making commercially sensitive profit and loss accounts publicly available? Can he also explain how the balance has been struck between improving fraud detection and protecting legitimate commercial confidentiality?

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

I thank my noble friend for his question, and I agree with the underlying point he makes. In his report, the commissioner recommends that small companies and micro-entities be required to file profit and loss accounts with Companies House under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023. I said before that the Government have only partially accepted four of his recommendations, and this is one of them. While small businesses and micro-entities will be required to file profit and loss statements, as announced in June 2026, this requirement will come into effect in April 2028—one year later than initially anticipated—to give companies and businesses time to prepare. Small companies and micro-entities will have the option to opt out of publishing their profit and loss information on the public companies register. These changes reflect the Government’s consideration of concerns raised by stakeholders following the June announcement. The opt-out option addresses legitimate concerns about the commercial sensitivity of profit and loss information for smaller companies. Publishing this data on a public register carries privacy and competitive risks that are disproportionate for businesses of this size.