Company Law Bill [HL]

Clause 615 re-enacts the provisions of Section 220(2) of the 1985 Act, extending them to the whole of the UK, concerning the calculation of periods in Part 21 expressed as a number of days. In contrast to that section, Clause 615 provides that bank holidays may be disregarded only in the part of the UK where the company is registered. The amendments would allow bank holidays in any part of the UK to be disregarded, not just those where the company is registered. The provisions in Clause 615 regarding bank holidays are consistent with those in other clauses—Clauses 302, 305 and 755. The amendments would create inconsistency and would lead to longer delay, where all respondents can ignore deadlines if a bank holiday in any part of the UK falls within the period for response. As the noble Lord acknowledged, currently there are two sets of bank holidays to be taken into account: those in Scotland and those in England and Wales. In re-enacting that provision, Clause 615 also extends it to Northern Ireland, thus introducing a third set of bank holidays. As the dates of those bank holidays often do not coincide, the amendments would cause practical difficulties. That is why the provision is as it is.