Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what consideration has the Government made of the potential impact of shareholder digitisation on a) cooperatives, b) small businesses and c) social enterprises.

The Digitisation Taskforce, chaired by Sir Douglas Flint, published a report in July 2025 with its recommendations on how to modernise the UK’s shareholding framework, including removing paper shares. The report focused on companies whose securities are traded publicly, and did not cover private, unlisted companies or other entities. The government has accepted his recommendations. The Dematerialisation Market Action Taskforce (DEMAT), chaired by Mark Austin, is now taking forward work to implement the recommendations from the report.