Company Law Reform Bill [HL]

moved, as an amendment to Amendment No. 111, Amendment No. 112:"Line 4, after ““director”” insert ““or former company director””" The noble Lord said: My Lords, I have a sense of intruding on some sort of private ceremony. From these crowded Benches, perhaps I might be allowed to do that. We return to the issue that we discussed earlier of the threat of animal extremists, or animal terrorists, as I now prefer to call them. The Government’s new clause is aimed at making it simpler for directors of companies to withhold their private addresses. The noble Lord, Lord Sainsbury, mentioned the negotiations with his department and the ABPI. At one point in Grand Committee, I had it in mind to table some amendments, but I was a day too late. The noble Lord will remember that the Committee had already passed this part of the Bill, so we reserved our position for Report. On the first four amendments, the noble Lord has made it clear that he intends to deal with these matters at a later stage in the Bill with amendments that have not yet been tabled, as far as I can ascertain. I have to accept his word that the Government will deal with these matters. The two groups of amendments that I have tabled—he has mentioned the first four—are a question of dealing with former directors. It is no good giving a director of a company the right to withhold his private address if it is already public property when he has been the director of another company. The object of the exercise is to stop the illegal harassing and intimidation of directors by people getting at their families and private houses. I look forward very much to welcoming—I hope that I will welcome—the government amendments that are intended to deal with that issue. I am told that it will not be difficult for the authorities in the context of the new government clause, which I welcome. Changing the procedure seems to be wholly advantageous. It should be possible to cross-check with all the information that is held on computers to ensure that information is not divulged from the registers of other companies. The second group is intended to strengthen what is perceived to be the inadequate law of enforcing the provision on withholding private addresses. Noble Lords may remember the case of an employee at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency who knowingly and deliberately released the home addresses on the databases held by that agency. The families whose names were made public were subject to unpleasant harassment and intimidation as a result. The employee who was guilty of a major breach of confidence, which had serious consequences, spent only three months in prison. If we want to make a rule that makes it impossible for people’s private addresses to be disclosed to those who would abuse that position, there ought to be stronger legislation to enforce that. My amendments are intended to provide a stronger disincentive to flouting Parliament’s intention and the Government’s proposals. Amendments Nos. 118 and 119 to the Minister’s new clause are intended to enable Companies House to disclose personal addresses to public authorities and credit reference agencies and give the Secretary of State powers by regulation to impose conditions. Amendment No. 118 extends the regulation power to enable the Secretary of State to provide for offences relating to cases. The Minister says that he thinks that the law is sufficient, but the view of those advising me is that it is not and that it needs to be reinforced by the additional provisions in the amendments that I have tabled. However, there may be an opportunity to revisit this question. The Minister may be able to consult yet further with the ABPI. If he is going to introduce government amendments at a later stage of the Bill to deal with the question of former directors, it would be possible at the same time to deal with the question of strengthening the law to make the offences more serious and to treat them more seriously. I should be grateful to know what the Government’s intentions might be. I beg to move.