6 Consultation
17. The statutory consultation exercise (albeit on
a prospective wider-ranging draft Order) was initiated in August
2008. The then proposed draft Order set out to repeal the 1907
Act and replace it with 31 new sections written into the Partnership
Act 1890; sought to make certain amendments to the Companies Act
2006 with regard to limited partnerships, which are now expected
to be dealt with in due course, via delegated legislation related
to that Act; [14] and
included the provisions being assessed in this report.
18. There were 108 recipients of the consultation
document. Thirty-three responses were received, as a result of
which, although there was broad support for many of the key proposals,
the original comprehensive draft Order was reduced in scale to
the dimensions given in the current draft Order.
19. According to BERR (now BIS) the consultation
made it clear that there was at least one significant, useful
change for which there was a consensus.[15]
However, because the overall reaction caused changes in the scope
of the then proposed draft Order a second consultation, seeking
views on what is now intended and involving the 33 respondents
to the original exercise, was undertaken in April 2009. The reaction
in this case remained broadly positive. Whilst they did not reject
the current proposals, four respondents thought that the piecemeal
approach to reform of limited partnership law would increase costs
as a result of those concerned having to cope with a possible
succession of changes rather than one. BERR (now BIS) said that
although it was sympathetic to the point, it 'did not believe
that [it] could bring forward a single comprehensive order with
confidence that it would be generally supported for at least twelve
months and possibly much longer'.[16]
It is also the fact that since current draft Order applies only
to new limited partnerships it has no cost implications for established
businesses.
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
20. Business partnerships are a reserved matter under
Scottish devolution arrangements and the Welsh Assembly has no
jurisdiction over such issues.[17]
In Northern Ireland partnership law is a transferred matter under
the Northern Ireland Act 1998. However, to ensure nationwide consistency
it was agreed that the Companies Act 2006 should also extend to
Northern Ireland. In a similar vein, the Northern Ireland Minister
for Enterprise, Trade and Investment wrote to the Secretary of
State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform on 8 August
2008 agreeing that it was appropriate to reform limited partnership
law on a UK-wide basis.[18]
Furthermore, the draft Order contains no provision to amend or
repeal any Northern Ireland legislation (and accordingly passes
the test in section 10 of the LRRA).
21. We believe that responsibilities relating
to the consultation procedures laid out in section 13 of the LRRA
have been properly fulfilled.
14 In parallel with the present draft Order, BIS hopes
to make other minor changes to the 1907 Act as consequences on
the Companies Act 2006 in the form of the Companies Act 2006 (Consequential
Amendments, Transitional Provisions and Savings) Order 2009 which
is currently being drafted. Back
15
ED, para 46, p9. Back
16
ED, para 47, p9. Back
17
ED, para 43, p8. Back
18
ED, para 44, p9. Back
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