The Companies Act (2006)
Photo: Steve Forrest/ActionAid
The Corporate Responsibility (CORE) Coalition was instrumental in securing changes to the Companies Act, helping to improve the impacts of UK companies on people and the environment. As a result:
- company directors must now consider the environmental and social impacts of their decisions
- the largest public companies have to annually report on their environmental and social impacts
However, these stipulations only require the company to consider environmental and social issues it considers are material to members. CORE believes these obligations would be much more effective if further changes were made.
Directors Duties Guidance
To help directors clarify their obligations under the new law, CORE has produced this explanatory guide to assist directors in understanding their statutory duties under the Companies Act 2006. It is important that all directors, executive and non-executive directors are fully aware of their responsibilities under the Act. This guide pays particular attention to the new codification of the ‘Duty to promote the success of the company’.
Download a free copy of the guide here
Act Now! A 
to The Companies Act
This guide provides advice and ideas on how activists and campaigners can use the Companies Act to help improve the social and environmental performance of companies. The guide will provide you with an understanding of the relevant new provisions in the 2006 Companies Act (the Act) and some tools and techniques on how to use the Act in campaigns. The guide is suitable for anyone who is concerned about the social or environmental behaviour of companies and wants to make a difference, including communities and grassroots groups who are negatively affected by a company, as well as concerned shareholders, including pension fund trustees.
Download a free copy of the guide here
Follow Up: The Corporate Reporting Project
CORE believe that while the current reporting requirements on companies are an improvement, they are still far too weak. The government has committed to reviewing the impact of these new reporting requirements in spring 2010. CORE is currently undertaking a reporting analysis to establish how much impact the new reporting requirements actually have had.
16-year-olds Rozie Webster and Sam Wolfson were first to lobby their MP on a new campaign to make businesses behave ethically (Photo: Kristian Buus/ActionAid)
Looking Back: The Rationale
Some key documents below provide an overview of what CORE campaigned for in company law and why. You can find more about CORE’s work on company law by searching the archive.
Companies Bill: Making Corporate Irresponsibility History?
This provides an overview of CORE and the Trade Justice Movement’s proposed amendments to the Companies Bill and sets out how they might work in practice. Read the document here.
Read CORE’s press release on the act once it had been given royal assent here.