Company Law Reform Bill [HL]

moved Amendment No. 127:"Page 106, line 16, at end insert ““who have not attained the age of 18””" The noble Lord said: My Lords, I can be relatively brief, as this is the last amendment from the Opposition on Part 10. It relates to a point that the noble Lord, Lord Sharman, felt quite strongly about and which we debated in Grand Committee. The amendment seeks to ensure that adult children and step-children of a director are excluded from the definition ““connected with”” a director. It also relates to Clauses 173 and 178. We believe that times have moved on, and, in modern society, it is appropriate that adult children, who may well be pursuing different careers, should be allowed to live their own independent lives and not automatically be grouped with the director if they commit an offence under the Company Law Reform Act, as it will become. They are of course answerable, but should not necessarily be grouped with the director. We said that we would return to this issue, and I would be grateful if Ministers could respond. I beg to move.