Proposals to reduce burdensome company filing requirements for the UK’s 3.2 million companies, and improve the accuracy of the information supplied to government, have been announced by the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS) today.
In a consultation document published today, the Government aims to reduce the amount of information that companies need to file and the frequency that it is sent to Companies House. Under Company Law, companies are required to send in certain details ranging from basic information such as the address of the company, through to more detailed information on the ownership and financial position.
Crawley MP, Henry Smith, commented:
“Cutting unnecessary bureaucracy and red tape for businesses will help build a stronger economy. It’s only right that, as well as doing this, the Government also makes sure that the information available on a company is accurate and transparent.
“Whilst the last Labour Government presided over the equivalent of six new working regulations every working day, or 1,500 a year, in stark contrast this Government has capped the cost of new regulations reducing net costs on business by almost £1 billion since January 2011.
“Through the Red Tape Challenge, 6,500 substantive regulations are being reviewed and 3,000 will be scrapped or overhauled. This includes 85 per cent of health and safety regulations.
“Ministers are taking steps that will mean that businesses, pushed for time and money, are not simply filing paperwork for the sake of it. This will mean companies can concentrate on growing their business and creating jobs.”
A key proposal outlined today is the suggested removal of the requirement to complete a mandatory annual return – the basic details on a company, such as the business address, type, names of directors and information about shareholders and shares. Every company submits these and under the plans they could instead either digitally confirm each year that the information held by Companies House is simply correct or update it as and when it changes.
This would cut the time and money that businesses spent filing these forms, especially benefiting small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) whose details generally remain the same but nevertheless have to file information each year. This could also help reduce the amount of fees companies pay to agents to help them file this information.
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