The UK Home Office is to introduce a new definition of commercial affairs, the first in the world, to better encompass its wide range of activities, including the commercial affairs of government departments and other bodies, as part of its effort to tackle what it sees as a lack of transparency.
According to a draft definition published in February, commercial affairs includes:The Home Office said the new definition is aimed at “making it easier for people to understand and understand what’s happening with their government departments.”
It will also help “better inform people about how we manage our financial affairs and our national security.”
According to the draft definition, commercial activities include the following:The draft definition will be published in the Government Gazette, published on Monday.
The British government has already said that it will use a “different way of defining commercial activities” than that outlined in the Home Office’s 2015 definition.
The draft definition says commercial activities may include:The government said that the changes to the definition will “better reflect the UK’s diversity” and “help to ensure that our commercial activities are focused on the public good.”
The new definition will include the current definition of “commercial affairs,” which was published in October 2016.
The draft version of the definition includes several new definitions, including:It also clarifies that commercial activities in the UK are subject to “appropriate restrictions on commercial conduct,” but that the term does not include commercial activities carried out by private individuals or companies.
It does, however, include commercial affairs within the meaning of the Companies Act 2012, which provides the framework for UK companies to operate in the European Union.