Companies Act 2006 (Part 35) (Consequential Amendments, Transitional Provisions and Savings) Order 2009

The starting point is that Part 35 contains a mixture of provisions that apply generally and provisions that have either more limited application or that contain references to companies but which are essentially intended to apply generally. I hope that I will reassure the noble Lord, Lord De Mauley, that it takes relatively little to amend some of the provisions so as to generalise them or make it clear that they apply generally. That is more efficient than amending other legislation simply by writing in the provisions we want to apply with very little adaptation. Our approach leaves Part 35 as the foundation of the law about the register’s function and material sent to the register. Other legislation will build on that foundation by applying the less straightforward provisions, including those which require greater adaptation to fit particular cases. An example of that is provided by limited liability partnerships. We intend to apply most of Part 35 to limited liability partnerships. The amendment made by the draft order will provide the foundation for that. I am not sure that that actually deals with the noble Lord’s point. Unless I misunderstood it, the point was whether it would make it easier for lay people to deal with this issue. I am looking at my officials to see whether they will say yea or nay. In the mean time, I will deal with a point raised by the noble Lord, Lord Razzall about the proposed approach being generally supported. He asked what objections anybody had. We received relatively few written responses, but both the department and Companies House discussed them in detail with our leading stakeholders. We are not aware of any areas where our approach is not supported, other than those relating to rectification, which we have already said we will keep under review. So we have nothing up our sleeves on that one. The noble Lord, Lord De Mauley, asked whether we would codify for clarity. We will not be codifying secondary legislation made under the Act, but we will publish guidance on the websites for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and for Companies House. We will also work closely with our leading stakeholders and leading publishers. As regards the point the noble Lord, Lord Lyell, raised—we will confirm this in writing just to ensure I get it absolutely right—English is the preferred language but there are allowances for other languages provided that they are accompanied by a translation. The reference to Roman characters is shorthand for the characters set out in the schedule. Only these may be used in names and addresses in documents delivered to the registrar. Not a lot of people know that. I hope that that has dealt with all the questions. As regards the point of the noble Lord, Lord De Mauley, we believe that this will be a reasonable procedure for lay people. Proof of that particular pudding will be in the eating. Motion agreed.