Proceedings resumed.

As we have heard, the proposals in the Bill are a direct result of Treasury consultation on the review of co-operative and credit union legislation in Great Britain, which was carried out in December 2007. The responses identified areas in the legislation for co-operatives and credit unions that would benefit from an update. We have held extensive discussions in the Treasury with the sector and key stakeholders, and we are taking forward the majority of the reforms using a legislative reform order, which I hope will be laid before the House before too long. The Bill complements the work that the Government are doing and deals with issues that have not been included in the LRO but have been widely sought by the sector. The sector and its supporters certainly wholeheartedly support the Bill promoted by my right hon. Friend Malcolm Wicks.

The Bill provides for a change of name for relevant institutions, and specifically that societies registered under the Industrial and Provident Societies Act 1965 should be registered as co-operative societies or community benefit societies. Respondents to the consultation made a powerful case that the industrial and provident society name sounds somewhat outmoded and constrains the development of the sector. The Government agree that a name change would help modernise the sector and attract a new range of members, so we fully support it. However, my right hon. Friend is right that a simple renaming is not enough, and we also have to change the IPS name throughout the relevant legislation.

Applying the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986 to officers of industrial and provident societies as it applies to companies, building societies and friendly societies will be useful, too. Clause 3 is necessary, as it will go a long way towards improving corporate governance standards by providing for industrial and provident societies to be subject to closer scrutiny by their registrar, the Financial Services Authority. The Bill gives the FSA new powers of investigation to enhance its scrutiny role.

The benefits of that increased scrutiny are twofold. First, enhanced corporate governance standards will give societies added credibility, which is particularly important in the current circumstances of the worldwide economic and financial sector crisis. Secondly, it will provide extra assurance and protection to societies' members and to the statutory authorities.

It is equally important to ensure that powers are available to regulate the corporate body, as well as the individuals who control it. I therefore welcome the aspects of my right hon. Friend's Bill that will help to create a level playing field by enabling the striking off and dissolution of defunct societies by the registrar and the application of company law on the investigation of companies. Importantly, it will also make it possible to apply to societies company law on company names, including directing a society to change its name if it is similar to other names or if the society has provided misleading information to register a particular name. At the moment there is no clear sanction for businesses operating under the guise of a co-operative, or with the word "co-operative" included in their full corporate name. Helpfully, the Bill will remedy that anomaly.

Again, the Minister may or may not know the answer to this question off the cuff, and I do not mind getting a letter later. Will that power apply retrospectively if a company already has the word "co-operative" in its title and it is challenged as being misleading?

I believe that the answer about retrospection in the way that the hon. Gentleman defines it is yes, but I will ensure that that point is covered in the response that I promised him earlier.

On clause 5, credit unions share a number of similarities with building societies, albeit that they are on a smaller scale. Credit union membership has expanded significantly, and we need to ensure that the protections offered to members keep pace with the expansion of the sector. The Government consider that the best way of reconciling regulatory oversight with credit unions' expanding membership and operations would be to bring it into line with building society law, which is tailored to deal with issues specific to institutions that accept deposits. For example, we should allow credit union members a statutory right to vote by proxy and require institutions to provide a summary financial statement to members and depositors. In fact, the Bill will allow any provisions of building society legislation that are deemed appropriate to be mirrored for credit unions. I should give the reassurance that the Government would consult fully on any application of building society law to credit unions before bringing it into effect.

The Bill extends to Great Britain only, and excludes Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. It would not be right to interfere with the separate regime governing similar institutions in Northern Ireland, although there is a limited power in the Bill to make consequential amendments to Northern Ireland statute if appropriate.

The contributions to this morning's debate have reflected the affection and esteem in which Members throughout the House hold the mutual sector, and I am pleased to reaffirm the Government's wholehearted support for my right hon. Friend's Bill.

We have had a good, essential and therefore encouraging debate on the Bill, although it involved an outbreak of flu. However, I understand the need for the interruption.

I thank Treasury Ministers and officials for their great help in planning the Bill and my presentation of it. I especially thank my right hon. Friend the Financial Secretary for his speech today and his support for the measure.

I thank the Co-operative party for its support, through research and intelligence, for my presentation. My hon. Friend Emily Thornberry said that she had not been able to join the Co-operative party. There is the old joke about the Labour party being full up, although I am bound to say that I do not think that that is the case at the moment. However, I have a feeling that a membership form will be winging its way to my hon. Friend so that she can remedy that one defect in her political personality.

I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Islington, South and Finsbury on her speech. She represents an important and historic part of London, which my father, Arthur Wicks, represented for more than 30 years on the London county council and the Greater London council. I therefore watch her carefully and she is doing well.

I thank the Liberal Democrat spokesman, Mr. Heath, for his encouraging words. We usually discuss water mills and their potential for microgeneration, and it was good to talk about other matters on this occasion. Peter Bottomley spoke encouragingly about the Bill, for which I thank him. I also thank the Conservative spokesman, Mr. Hurd, for his remarks.

I am a great believer in the private Member's Bill tradition. I had the opportunity in 1995 to introduce the Carers (Recognition and Services) Act. I know that Madam Deputy Speaker has an interest in that, and she and I worked together on it. I managed to introduce that Act under a Conservative Government, thanks not least to Virginia Bottomley, who was then Secretary of State for Health and who encouraged me.

I thought that if I could introduce a Back-Bench Bill under a Conservative Government, surely one day I could convince my Government to support a private Member's Bill that I promoted. I cheated slightly by adopting a Government measure, because I knew it might be more difficult under Labour than under the Conservatives to get a Bill on the statute book. However, I am pleased that we have consensus on the measure; we will have to wait and see what the upper House makes of it.

The private Member's Bill tradition is important. As I implied at the beginning of the debate, it is so important that I think we can approach the task mid-week in a slightly more adult and serious way than sometimes occurs on a Friday morning, when people make hay with often significant measures.

I ask the House to support Third Reading of this important Bill.

Question put and agreed to.

Bill accordingly read the Third time and passed.