The Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 introduced a new part 21A in the Companies Act. This requires UK companies to maintain a register of persons who have significant control over the company from 6 April 2016. As companies limited by guarantee, academy trusts are included in the requirement.
From the 30th June, companies must file information on the register with Companies House as part of a new annual confirmation statement.
Full guidance can be found here
The guidance quotes:
A person has significant control over a company if one or more of the specified conditions in Schedule 1A to the Act are satisfied. The first three specified conditions require the holding of more than 25% of the shares or voting rights in the company or the right to remove the majority of the board of directors.
Any academy trust will need to list its members as PSCs if the number of members is less than four. If there are four or more members, each individual will hold no more than 25% and will therefore not meet the PSC criteria.
The Academies Handbook quotes Academy trusts should be established with three members, although the DfE encourages trusts to have a least five members on total
The PSC register must never be blank. Para 3.4. Companies without PSCs quotes:
The PSC requirements apply whether your company has a PSC or not. If you have taken all reasonable steps and are confident that there are no individuals or legal entities which meet any of the conditions in relation to your company, you must enter that fact on the PSC register. The register must say that:
"The company knows or has reasonable cause to believe that there is no registerable person or
registerable relevant legal entity in relation to the company"
Academy trusts should consider discussing their specific circumstances with their auditor to ensure compliance with the new requirements.