Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill

My Lords, I declare my interests as set out in the register.

At Second Reading, I expressed...

Can the noble Lord assure the Committee that taking small businesses out, as he requires under th...

It depends on whether a shell company falls within the Companies Act definition, so it will depen...

My Lords, I am rather puzzled by one of the arguments that the noble Lord, Lord Flight, has advan...

My Lords, I am in sympathy with my noble friend Lord Flight’s amendment, but maybe not with the d...

My Lords, as a champion of small companies half of me has a lot of sympathy with this amendment b...

My Lords, I reiterate what the noble Lord, Lord Mitchell, has said. I spent the best part of my v...

My Lords, I draw your Lordships’ attention to my entry in the register of interests, which includ...

Is the noble Lord sure of what he just said? He said that a subsidiary company in a chain of subs...

As I understand it, if it is a subsidiary of a much larger company then it is not a small company...

My Lords, I also declare my interests in the register and take issue with the suggestions of the ...

My Lords, I do not know whether it is for me to answer that question, but it is very germane. I f...

My Lords, this is Committee and it is perfectly in order for noble Lords to speak as many times a...

My Lords, on the specific point, I just add the following. First, it would be perfectly possible ...

I, too, shall speak to Amendments 48 and 49, as they are grouped together, and express the same r...

My Lords, I shall speak to Amendments 37ZA, 37B, 37C, 47B and 50A.

I congratulate the Gover...

My Lords, Clause 78 and Schedule 3, which it introduces, will fulfil the UK’s 2013 G8—now G7—comm...

My Lords, I think the issues have been well raised. I hope the Government are able to come up wit...

Moved by

Lord Watson of Invergowrie

37: After Clause 78, insert the following new Cla...

I start by echoing the comments of my noble friend Lord Mitchell that the Government are to be co...

My Lords, my name is on the amendments in this group, but I shall speak, if I may, to Amendment 3...

My Lords, I rise to speak to Amendment 37, to which I have put my name. I pay tribute to my noble...

My Lords, I share the sentiment expressed by the noble Lord, Lord Mitchell, about the contributio...

Surely my noble friend understands that one is not looking for every company to have to make inte...

My Lords, I am grateful for that clarification. I was hypothecating the use of third parties to v...

I thank the noble Baroness for her response. I think it is fair to say that we are not a million ...

Moved by

Lord Mitchell

37D: Schedule 3, page 159, line 15, at end insert—

“(4) ...

My Lords, in moving Amendment 37D, I shall speak also to Amendments 44HA, 47A and 44 and will be ...

My Lords, I declare my interests as in the register. My various amendments in this group are all ...

My Lords, I rise to give a rather more upbeat reason for supporting Amendments 44 and 47. We have...

My Lords, I speak in support of Amendment 44. It seems to me that this is an example of the Gover...

I support my noble friend Lord Flight’s amendments. I declare my interest as before. I understand...

My Lords, my name is on two of these amendments, Amendments 44 and 47. My noble friend Lord Watso...

My Lords, I just make the point that this amendment is not in my name, as was previously suggeste...

I do not see why the information might be inaccurate if the companies themselves provide it. Sure...

That is an important point. We are here worried about rogue companies. We are not worried about c...

Are not those precisely the companies that we need to catch with legislation like this?

Indeed, that is my point. If we are going to do it, we should follow the recommendations of the F...

I thank my noble friends for their amendments and for the wide-ranging debate. It is good that th...

I thank the Minister for her reply. In general, we are reassured. Many things have been discussed...

Moved by

Lord Popat

38: Schedule 3, page 159, line 29, leave out “the specified condi...

My Lords, the amendments in this group are minor and technical ones to the measures in the Bill c...

Moved by

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

40: Schedule 3, page 159, line 40, leave out “the spe...

Moved by

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

42: Schedule 3, page 160, line 6, leave out “the spec...

Moved by

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

45: Schedule 3, page 166, leave out lines 40 to 46 an...

Moved by

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

50: Schedule 3, page 177, line 36, at end insert—

Moved by

Lord Flight

51: Clause 86, page 60, line 29, leave out from “company” to end...

My Lords, Amendment 51 seeks to address the issue of the duties of shadow directors and to limit ...

My Lords, Amendment 51, which is tabled in my name and that of my noble friend Lord Flight, is to...

The noble Lord might be!

That is the point. Shadow directors can be significant shareholders who have chosen not to sit on...

My Lords, in responding to Amendment 51, I thank my noble friends Lord Flight and Lord Leigh. Lik...

I thank the Minister for what she has said and beg leave to withdraw the amendment.

Moved by

Lord Flight

51A: Clause 89, page 62, line 40, leave out “853I” and insert “8...

My Lords, the amendments here in my name—as I made clear when I was speaking to Amendments 44A to...

I draw attention to my interests recorded in the register and my connection to small businesses. ...

My Lords, I am grateful to my noble friend for so graciously moving his amendment and to the nobl...

I beg leave to withdraw the amendment.

Moved by

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

52: Clause 89, page 67, line 34, after “exceeding” in...

Moved by

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

55: Clause 89, page 68, line 41, after “exceeding” in...

Moved by

Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts

56A: After Clause 89, insert the following ne...

My Lords, I am sorry that I am on the wrong side of the Moses Room this afternoon, but all the ch...

My Lords, I support this amendment but must declare an interest. I happen to be a trustee and dir...

I declare the same kind of interest as my noble friend who last spoke. There is sometimes confusi...

My Lords, I welcome the input of my noble friends Lord Cope, Lord Deben and Lord Hodgson, on this...

I am extremely grateful to my noble friend and I congratulate his officials on drafting a speakin...

Moved by

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

57: Schedule 5, page 199, leave out lines 41 to 47 an...

Moved by

Lord Mendelsohn

60A: After Clause 100, insert the following new Clause—

I shall speak also to Amendment 60B. The Bill offers us a tremendous opportunity to look at direc...

I am not sure that it is in the register of interests but I further disclose that I used to sit o...

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord for his amendments, the clarity of his introduction and the oppo...

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Leigh of Hurley, for his very useful intervention. As some...

Moved by

Lord Mendelsohn

60C: Clause 103, page 84, line 5, leave out from “to” to end...

My Lords, I will speak also to Amendment 60D. First, I want to set out our support for the introd...

I thank the noble Lord for the amendments in this group. He will perhaps be interested to know th...

I thank the Minister for her helpful reply. We, too, had a sweepstake on what her responses were ...

Moved by

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

61: Clause 110, page 90, line 21, at end insert—