Company Law Bill

Since March, ActionAid, as part of the Corporate Responsibility (CORE) coalition have been campaigning for stronger laws to make UK companies accountable for the impact of their activities in the UK and overseas.

Right corporate wrongs
More than 100,000 supporters have written to or lobbied their MP urging them to support changes to the Company Law Reform Bill, to make companies more responsible for their impact on poor people and the environment.

Thanks to your campaigning in 2006 we have achieved some important changes to UK company law.

What has been achieved?

• The government has strengthened the requirements in the legislation on social and environmental reporting so that the 1,300 companies on the London Stock Exchange have to report on environmental matters, social and community issues and risks down company supply chains.
• Directors of UK companies now have a duty to consider the impacts of their operations on the community and the environment. This is the first time that such responsibilities have been written into UK company law.
• The government put in place a link between the reporting requirements and directors duties in the Companies Bill, making it clearer that the reports must show how directors are performing on their duties to society and the environment, bringing responsibility for reporting to the Boardroom level.
 

More in-depth information on the outcome of the Companies Bill can be found here .

The UK government has recognised that UK companies need to be made more accountable - this is a fantastic achievement and a testament to the power of campaigning.

What next?
The recent changes to the Bill are only the first steps. In 2007, ActionAid, as part of the CORE coalition and the Trade Justice Movement will continue the campaign to right corporate wrongs to ensure the right measures are put in place to make companies more accountable for their impact on people and the planet.

photo : ©Marcus Rose/ Insight/ ActionAid