Historical links between ministers and former businesses will be hidden from the public if the government goes ahead with changes to Companies House, Labour has said.
Proposals to reduce the amount of time records of dissolved companies are retained could mean that the former directorships of 24 current Conservative ministers would no longer be accessible, research from the party suggests.
Their previous links to 48 now dissolved companies and organisations would be deleted either immediately or over the course of the parliament.
Ministers who could be affected include the chancellor, Philip Hammond, who is a former director of six dissolved companies; the home secretary, Amber Rudd; the defence secretary, Michael Fallon; and the health secretary, Jeremy Hunt.
Proposals are being considered to reduce the amount of time the records of dissolved companies are retained from 20 years to six. If the rules are changed, more than 2.5m records could be lost.
Tom Watson, Labour’s deputy leader, said it would be a backwards step.
“If the Tory government was truly committed to transparency and openness then it would not allow this move – which would effectively wipe from public view the records of 2.5m dissolved companies and the people associated with them – to go ahead,” he said. “It’s now up to Theresa May to ensure that this proposal will never see the light of day.”
Companies House maintains a database of every company incorporated in the UK, providing access to their accounts and listing all directors and shareholders. The agency is facing mounting pressure from businesses – and reportedly from MPs – to take down valuable information.
Police investigators, the National Crime Agency, the Serious Fraud Office, lawyers, journalists and bank compliance teams make extensive use of the data, with many searches involving dissolved companies and their directors.
Companies House, an executive agency of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, confirmed it was considering a change to the period for which records of dissolved companies should be kept on the register.
“This issue is being considered following a number of complaints made by members of the public who believe that retaining, and making publicly available, information relating to long-dissolved companies is inconsistent with data protection law,” a spokesman has said.
There is no time limit for records to be kept under data protection law, but business people linked to dissolved companies have been citing the legislation when arguing for a shorter retention period. Complaints have also been filed with the Information Commissioner’s Office, the data protection watchdog.
