Recommendation 21

It has been an offence since 2009 to make a false return to Companies House, yet to date there is a record of just one conviction for this offence, in 2018. The Department was unable to confirm the number of prosecutions or convictions made under these existing powers.44 The Department was also unable to confirm why, despite the continued rise in the number of companies registered and the increasing likelihood that some of these registrations are being used to commit fraud against businesses and the public, the Department’s powers to enforce the existing law are not being used.45 37 HM Treasury, Managing Public Money, March 2022, page 14, section 3.3, and page 102, section A4.9.1 38 Committee of Public Accounts, Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy Annual Report and Accounts 2020–21, First Report of Session 2022–23, HC 59, 11 May 2022 39 Written evidence submitted by Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales - ICAEW 40 Q 134 41 Q 125 42 Q 126 43 Q 127 44 Q 129 45 Qq 130–131 Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy Annual Report and Accounts 2021–22 15 3 Post Office Horizon IT programme compensation