§ Mr. Beaumont-Darkasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many companies up until the end of October have applied to the Inland Revenue for permission to implement their own shares scheme under the 1978 Act; how many have been approved; how many are in the course of approval; and how many have been refused.
§ Mr. Peter ReesBy the end of October, 170 companies had submitted profit sharing schemes to the Inland Revenue for approval under the Finance Act 1978 provisions; 55 of these schemes have been formally approved and the remaining 115 are still under discussion. In no case has approval been formally refused.