Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the impact of UK corporations holding online-only Annual General Meetings on the digitally excluded in Yeovil constituency who have a financial stake in such corporations.

The government has committed to clarifying the law in relation to fully virtual Annual General Meetings (AGMs). Officials are engaging with investors and business across the country on the practicalities of this and a full assessment will be undertaken as part of our Modernising Corporate Reporting programme. This will include consulting on the shareholder safeguards that should accompany the change, including consideration of digital access. This will ensure that fully virtual meetings only take place where shareholders agree, preserving the option for physical or hybrid attendance where it is shareholders’ preferred format.