Asked by: Scott Benton (Independent - Blackpool South)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether she is taking steps to enhance due diligence procedures for individuals establishing limited companies.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
The Government is taking action to enhance checks conducted on individuals establishing limited companies. The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 received Royal Assent on 26 October 2023 and the majority of new powers will come into force in March 2024. Companies House will have enhanced abilities to protect the integrity of the register. This will include powers to query suspected fraudulent incorporations and require further evidence. During 2025, compulsory identity verification checks will be implemented for directors (and equivalents), persons with significant control and those filing information with Companies House before they can transact with the Registrar.
Asked by: Scott Benton (Independent - Blackpool South)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether her Department plans to implement financial safeguards to prevent individuals who have previously mismanaged businesses from establishing limited companies.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
The Insolvency Service takes robust enforcement action against directors where there is evidence of unfit conduct and will bring disqualification proceedings where in the public interest.
The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 will further strengthen these safeguards. Individuals who are disqualified under director disqualification legislation will be prohibited from being appointed as a director and their existing directorships will become void. The Act also extends the grounds for making a director disqualification order so that individuals who persistently breach new identity verification or filing requirements may face disqualification.
Asked by: Scott Benton (Independent - Blackpool South)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps she is taking to increase trade with Saudi Arabia.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
The Government is currently negotiating an ambitious UK-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Free Trade Agreement (FTA) to boost trade with the region by cutting tariffs and removing red tape. The ongoing FTA negotiations with the GCC show our commitment to move towards a strengthened and more formalised trade relationship with Saudi Arabia.
Bilaterally, the UK and Saudi Arabia engage together as part of the Strategic Partnership Council to underpin bilateral relations, bolster mutually beneficial trade and investment, and develop partnerships between UK and Saudi giga-projects. I also recently travelled to Saudi Arabia to represent the UK at the Future Minerals Forum, one of the world’s largest critical mineral events.
The Government is also supporting British businesses operating in Saudi Arabia through our extensive market access work, which aims to reduce or remove regulatory or administrative restrictions that can impede a business exporting or investing overseas.
Asked by: Scott Benton (Independent - Blackpool South)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what the average time was for the Office for Product Safety and Standards to conduct an investigation into a regulator for repeated breaches of the regulators code in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
The Regulators Code is established under the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Act 2006. It provides a clear, flexible and principles-based framework for how regulators should engage with those they regulate.
The Act does not make provision for sanctions, penalties or investigations in respect of adherence by a regulator with the principles of the Code.
Routine enquires in respect of the Code received by the Office for Product Safety and Standards are managed within internal service standard time limits of five working days.
Asked by: Scott Benton (Independent - Blackpool South)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what penalties the Office for Product Safety and Standards can impose on a regulator for repeated breaches of the regulators code.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
The Regulators Code is established under the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Act 2006. It provides a clear, flexible and principles-based framework for how regulators should engage with those they regulate.
The Act does not make provision for sanctions, penalties or investigations in respect of adherence by a regulator with the principles of the Code.
Routine enquires in respect of the Code received by the Office for Product Safety and Standards are managed within internal service standard time limits of five working days.