Departmental Responsibilities

Mr. Hands
To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform pursuant to the answer of 25 March 2009, Official Report, column 523W, on the Corporate Governance Unit, when his Department’s Corporate Law and Governance Directorate was established; what the remit of the Directorate is; what the cost to the public purse has been of the Directorate in each year of its operation; what the job title is of each member of staff of the Directorate; and which Ministers other than the Secretary of State have had responsibility for the Directorate since its establishment.

Mr. McFadden
BERR and its predecessor Departments have been responsible for company law issues since the 19th century. The name “Corporate Law and Governance Directorate” (CLG) was adopted in 2005 when responsibility for company investigations transferred to the Insolvency Service. Highlights of CLG work appear on the Department’s annual report (Sections 2.91-2.94)

http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file47097.pdf

My hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State currently has responsibility for company law issues in succession to my hon. Friend the Minister for Trade, Development and Consumer Affairs. The directorate also houses BERR’s Better Regulation Unit, which reports to the Minister for Communications, Technology and Broadcasting in succession to the Minister for Competitiveness and Small Business. In 2007-08 the running costs of the directorate were £2,198,000.