Government axe proposed delinquent directors log

Dodgy company directors might be heard breathing a sigh of relief after a streamlined way to report them fell victim to the government’s axe, despite widespread support for the industry-led initiative.

Rather than going ahead with a new online form to log delinquent company directors, the business department has stopped it on the grounds there is a moratorium on fresh red tape for micro-firms.

Supporters of the form, designed to replace the cumbersome and costly ‘D1’ reports, are aghast, saying a comparatively money-saving and information-rich way to report rogue directors has been scrapped on the basis of a policy that set out to protect small traders.

“We were disappointed when the Insolvency Service called time on our joint work on an online D1 form”, Lee Manning, president of industry body R3, which drew it up, explained.

“The micro-business moratorium is designed to protect these businesses from the burden of new regulation. The introduction of a simplified online form would, though, actually reduce the administrative burden on them, as well as helping to more effectively tackle delinquent directors.”

The insolvency trade group added that protecting the wider business community from unscrupulous company directors is “essential” in maintaining public confidence.

Toby Perkins MP, Labour’s shadow small business minister agreed: “Anything that impacts on the Insolvency Service’s ability to go after unscrupulous directors is bad news for honest small businesses, who are the lifeblood of the British economy.”