Company Law Reform Bill [HL]

My Lords, from these Benches, I add my thanks to the Government for their Amendment No. 196. Like the noble Lord, Lord Phillips, I was slightly puzzled about the order in which we are doing things, because I understand that Amendment No. 196, which would replace Clause 395, will not be moved until Clause 394 has been discussed. We shall discuss the points then anyway, although many of them have been partly dealt with in Amendment No. 196, which I welcome. It brings this part of the Bill much more in tune with Clause 156 than the current Clause 395. To pick up the point made by the noble Lord, Lord Phillips, the question on the use of contractors also relates to associated companies and subsidiaries where there is only a minority stake. It would be good to hear what the responsibilities under the prospective new clause would be to companies in relation to subsidiaries and associated companies that are not wholly owned. Amendment No. 196 is very important. It is significant not only to Oxfam but to a number of other organisations that have made representations to me. In the future, in our increasingly global world, the way in which multinational companies operate in other countries will have a huge impact beyond their own immediate concerns and those of their shareholders. The sort of imbalances that can be set up in a world in which information and the movement of people is ever increasing means that there will be a need for multinational companies increasingly to pay attention to the wider social and environmental impacts of their activities. I am pleased that Amendment No. 196 extends the current Clause 395 to speaking about the communities in which companies operate and not just on issues of the environment and employees. There is ample evidence from Scandinavia, for example, that it is perfectly possible to be successful economically while giving a high profile to the wider social and economic responsibilities that companies bear. We thank the Government from these Benches for Amendment No. 196. To save me speaking again, let me say that Amendment No. 194B usefully sets out the implications of Amendment No. 196 if it is accepted.