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Company Law Reform Bill [Lords]

For the purposes of dealing with company secretaries, I declare my registered interests. The answer that the Secretary of State has just given betrays one of the fundamental misunderstandings about the proposal for getting rid of the requirement for a company secretary in a private company: a company secretary, as opposed to the chairman of a board, is an office holder—otherwise we would not even have the term ““directors’ and officers’ liability insurance””. An office holder is a completely different species from the chairman of a board, who is another co-director, chosen by the board to chair that board, and who has the accountabilities that go with that. I hope that I will be able to develop some of those points if I get the chance to catch your eye, Mr. Speaker. As we develop the debate on the requirement for a secretary, it is important to recognise that the secretary is, uniquely, an office holder. That was not part of the Secretary of State’s answer.