I again thank the Opposition for the constructive way in which they have approached this useful discussion throughout the passage of the Bill. I am grateful for the contributions on new clauses 1 and 3, which would require the Secretary of State to make reports every three months to Parliament on the number of directors investigated and disqualified under the provisions in the Bill, and to report their effectiveness after one year.

I reassure the Committee that the Insolvency Service routinely produces insolvency statistics, covering company insolvencies in the UK and individual insolvencies in England and Wales, as well as some of the underlying data alongside that. These are published online, available to everybody, every three months. At the start of the pandemic, the Insolvency Service undertook to provisionally add experimental monthly data releases concerning insolvency numbers. In this way, the statistics could act as an indicator on the pandemic’s impact on insolvencies.

As well as the quarterly releases of insolvency statistics, information about the Insolvency Service’s enforcement activities is published and updated monthly. This data includes the number of companies wound up in the public interest and the number of disqualification orders and undertakings, broken down by the relevant section of the CDDA under which they were sought. Information on the length of the periods of disqualification is included and there is an annual report on the nature of the misconduct being alleged.

Through online searches, people can see that a wealth of information is already provided. In future reports, enforcement outcomes will also include any disqualifications made against former directors of dissolved companies. In addition, an undertaking has been given in the impact assessment for the Bill to produce a post-implementation review of the measure to allow for investigation and disqualification of former directors of dissolved companies. That review will be done within five years of the commencement of the measure, which is in line with better regulation requirements. The exact form of the review is yet to be determined, and I am happy to work with the Opposition and hear their views about it. It is likely to be informed by the case numbers and to include an assessment of whether the powers are capable of being used as intended. I hope that that reassures hon. Members that there will be a review of the new provisions, and that they will therefore not press the new clauses.

On the resourcing point that the hon. Member for Feltham and Heston raised, the Insolvency Service employs its finite resources to maximum effect. It tries to prioritise cases where there has been most harm to the public and the wider marketplace. While it is clear that the resources of the Insolvency Service are not limitless, they are sufficient to take forward all cases where there is a realistic likelihood that investigation will result in the disqualification of directors, bankruptcy restrictions, the winding up of a company in the public interest or a successful prosecution. All cases requiring further investigation are prioritised and allocated so that the most serious cases are dealt with first. The Insolvency Service, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and the Treasury continue to work closely to respond to bounce back loan fraud, including by determining the resources that are required to tackle these cases.

The hon. Lady made a point about time limits. I reassure Members that the time limit referred to in the Bill does not relate to when the misconduct occurred. An application for a disqualification order may be made within three years of the date on which the company was dissolved, but that period can be extended with the leave of the court. That mirrors the provision for the investigation of conduct in companies subject to insolvency proceedings, where the period during which a disqualification application may be made is three years from the date the company becomes insolvent.

At present, the average time between the commencement of an insolvency to the stage of an investigation where a decision is taken to start proceedings is about 15 months. The bounce back loan scheme was launched on 4 May, so we are confident that a period of three years will be sufficient in most cases for an investigation into the conduct of former directors of dissolved companies with unpaid bounce back loans to be properly undertaken. We should also be clear that there is no limit to how far back conduct can be considered in evidence to support a disqualification report.

I hope that that offers some reassurance to Opposition Members. I am happy to work with them on the detail as we move through the passage of the Bill.