Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what support his Department is offering to businesses to alter articles of association to align the interests of (a) people, (b) the planet and (c) profit.

Under section 21 of the Companies Act 2006, a company may alter its articles of association by special resolution (requiring 75% approval of its shareholders), and under section 172(2) of the Act, a company may set out a distinctive purpose that its directors must lawfully follow. Many businesses already use these provisions to set out how their directors should consider the interests of shareholders, employees and the environment.