§ Mr. BeithTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his answer of 16 January,Official Report, column 509, whether he will state the grounds on which costs incurred by the electricity distribution companies in their change of ownership were regarded as general overheads of their business.
§ Mrs. Gillian Shephard[holding answer 7 March 1991]: As I explained in my previous reply, the shares of the electricity distribution companies were issued and sold on behalf of the Secretary of State for Energy, who received all the proceeds.
There was therefore no supply of shares by electricity distribution companies to which input tax was attributable. Any related costs incurred by the companies as a consequence fell to be treated with other non-attributable costs as general overheads of the business.