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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of lowering thresholds to file shareholder resolutions at annual general meetings for the purposes of encouraging stronger stewardship and wider stakeholder engagement as businesses transition to net zero.

The right to file resolutions is an important means through which shareholders can exercise effective stewardship, including on environmental matters. The law needs to provide a balance between giving shareholders such opportunities whilst at the same time ensuring that companies are not burdened with handling resolutions from shareholders who do not represent any significant body of opinion amongst the investor base.

The Department keeps this (and other aspects of company law) under review and is currently considering recommendations made by the Asset Management Taskforce’s Stewardship and Stakeholder Working Groups and the Pension Scheme Voting Implementation Taskforce for Government to consider lowering the thresholds for filing shareholder resolutions.