Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent estimate he has made of the number of small businesses fined by Companies House and HMRC during the covid-19 outbreak for late (a) filing and (b) payment; and if he will make a statement.

Companies House registers companies, not businesses. The information currently filed with Companies House does not allow it to determine company size. Therefore, it cannot determine the number of small companies that have been subject to a late filing penalty. However, the total number of Civil Penalties raised during the period 1st April 2020 to 31st May 2021 are 241,918.

In order to assist companies affected by the pandemic, measures were put in place by the Department, including allowing companies extra time to file accounts. Also, any appeal to the Registrar against paying a penalty on the grounds a company has been impacted by the pandemic immediately before the filing deadline are being treated sympathetically.