Part 1: Companies House Reform Register of members Section 48: Register of members: protecting information
This section inserts new section 120A (Power to make regulations protecting material) into the Companies Act 2006. New section 120A allows the Secretary of State to make regulations:
To require a company to refrain from using or disclosing "individual membership information" except in specified circumstances. This could be used if new information about members were required under section 113C, which would not normally be made available for public inspection, for example an individual’s usual residential address.
To confer power on the Registrar to make an order requiring a company to refrain from using or disclosing "individual membership information" except in specified circumstances, where an application to the Registrar is made to request this. The Registrar may receive an application if a member who is an individual was at serious risk of violence or intimidation from their information being made available for public inspection, alongside an application under new section 1088 of the 2006 Act.
	Section 48(2) - (4) amend sections 114-116 (which are provisions that require information to be made available for public inspection) to be subject to any regulations under new section 120A (Power to make regulations protecting material).
	Section 48(5) inserts new subsection (2A) to section 120 (rights to inspect and require copies). This states subsections (1) and (2) do not apply to an alteration that relates to information that the company is required to refrain from disclosing by virtue of regulations under new section 120A (protected material).
	Section 48(6) inserts new section 120B (Offence of failing to comply with regulations under section 120A). This states if a company fails to comply with a restriction on the use or disclosure of information imposed by virtue of regulations under section 120A, an offence is committed by the company and every officer of the company who is in default. Subsection (2) states a person guilty of an offence on summary conviction in England and Wales is liable to a fine, and in Scotland or Northern Ireland, to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale and, for continued contravention, a daily default fine not exceeding one-tenth of level 5 on the standard scale.
	Section 48(7) inserts new paragraph (aa) into section 1087(1) (material not available for public inspection). This means any application or other document delivered to the Registrar under regulations under new section 120A (protection of individual membership information) are not to be made available for public inspection.