Government extends AGM help to mutual societies
Policy campaign
Published
20th October 2020Last updated
10th November 2020Region
Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Policy issue
Covid
Governance
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Legal clarity and comfort
Back in March (2020) government announced it would be legislating to give companies greater flexibility in how they approach AGMs and GMs. We worked with government to ensure legislation was extended to societies in a useful way.
The legislation gives societies legal certainty and comfort if they need to breach their rules, and usual good co-operative practice, by:
- Holding their AGMs and GMs in ways that restrict in-person participation
- Holding their AGMs and GMs with online participation
- Delaying their AGMs and GMs
Legislation will also apply retrospectively from 26 March, so any AGMs and GMs societies held from that date onwards are covered.
Originally, this legislation was only planned to help companies, which caused a major headache for some of our members - particularly large retail societies. We took these concerns to government and are delighted that we were listened to and these measures have now been extended to cover societies as well.
– James Wright, policy officer, Co-operatives UK
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and the Financial Reporting Council have updated their information sheet to reflect the inclusion of societies. We advise society secretaries to read this document carefully.
Measures from the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and the Financial Reporting Council have updated their information sheet to reflect the inclusion of societies.