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Companies Bill [Lords]

We will do our best to ensure that all the interests in such arrangements are consulted as thoroughly as possible about the right level at which to pitch the measure. It would be wrong for me to suggest that the Government were going in a particular direction. It is a matter of balance between the need for transparency and the avoidance of unnecessary burdens. I am sure that my hon. Friend will play a role in that consultation, representing the interests that he has rightly represented today. The last of my hon. Friend’s amendments in this group is No. 803, which would make a small change to the list in clause 551 of items to which the court is to have regard in considering whether a limitation of liability is fair and reasonable. In practice, I do not think that it would make any difference whether the court has regard to the auditor’s responsibilities under part 17 or under the Bill as a whole, because those responsibilities are confined to part 17. In conclusion, I support Government amendment No. 648, which is minor and technical. If anybody wants to know what it is I shall be pleased to tell them more about it, but it is merely a drafting amendment. We shall resist the new clause and the other amendments.