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Company Law Reform Bill [Lords]

No, it would not. The requirement is for the director, in reaching a decision, to have regard to all such matters, including the impact on the community. We cannot have a situation in which, essentially, two groups of people are running a company—one being the directors and the other being people who like or do not like what the company is doing and ask the courts to second-guess the company’s decisions. If we as a society decide that we do not want quarries, the best way to achieve that outcome is to pass legislation forbidding them. If quarries are legal, and provided that all planning permissions are obtained and other legal obligations are met, directors are entitled to reach that decision, because their duty is to the company. However, they do have to have regard to what they are doing. This is an important step forward and many in the other place were deeply opposed to it, but I hope that the House will support it.