The Anderson Review and Companies House Guidance

The Anderson Review, produced by Sarah Anderson in early 2009, made a number of proposals to increase business confidence in government guidance. The Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) has responded by updating its Code of Practice on Guidance on Regulation. The Code sets out golden rules for guidance on legislation (for example: guidance must be easy for users to understand and easily available for users).

Find out more about the Anderson review.

Companies House has a wide range of guidance to help customers in their dealings with us. Our guidance is compliant with most aspects of the Code of Practice and we are working on the few areas where we need to improve (such as the provision of quick start guides, and consultation built into guidance development). We aim to make all our guidance fully compliant with the Code of Practice by the end of September 2010.

The guidance most used by Companies House customers (December 2009) is listed below:

The Companies Act 2006
GP1 – Incorporation and Names
GP2 – Life of a Company – Part 1 Annual Requirements
GP3 – Life of a Company – Part 2 Event Driven Filings
GP4 – Strike off, Dissolution and Restoration
GP5 – Late Filing Penalties
GPLLP1 – Limited Liability Partnership Incorporation and Names
GPLLP2 – Life of a Limited Liability Partnership

The Companies Act 1985
GBA2 – Annual Return
GBA3 – Accounts and Accounting Reference Dates
GBA5 – Late Filing Penalties

If you have any queries about our guidance and the Anderson Review please contact: Helen Fletcher on 02920 380861 or hfletcher@companieshouse.gov.uk