Company Law Reform Bill [HL]

moved Amendment No. 483E:"Page 334, line 37, leave out from ““registrar”” to second ““and”” in line 38 and insert—" ““(i)   under the Companies Acts, and (ii)   under the enactments listed in subsection (2)”” The noble Lord said: In moving this amendment, I shall speak also to Amendments Nos. 483F, 483G, 487G and 528. These amendments relate to other enactments beyond the Companies Acts which confer functions on the registrar. Three of the amendments—Amendments Nos. 483E, 483F and 487G—make no real change of substance but are designed to introduce a little more clarity. At the moment the provision of the functions of the registrar in Clause 682, at the start of Part 26, refers generally to ““other enactments”” but does not list those enactments. In Clause 739, at the end of this part of the Bill, a list is provided, but it is arguably unclear what the effect is of the list in respect of some individual provisions. It is also not entirely clear whether the Bill or the existing enactments should apply to matters already covered by existing enactments. The amendments clarify the position. Amendments Nos. 483G and 528 do, however, make a change of substance to one of those enactments—the Limited Partnerships Act 1907. At the moment, enshrined in that Act is the provision that Companies House, when performing its functions, may only charge amounts varying from 2p to £2. The effect is that it is uneconomic for the registrar to offer certain optional services in respect of Limited Partnerships to customers, even where they have a need and are more than willing to pay the legitimate costs of the service being provided; other, mandatory, services have to be provided at a loss. This is creating difficulties in practice. In removing the statutory caps, the amendments will allow Companies House to develop services to meet customer demand and to charge for them in the normal way under Clause 684 of the Bill. I beg to move. On Question, amendment agreed to.