§ Mr. Hooleyasked the Secretary of State for Trade if he will investigate investments by insurance companies and pension funds in commodities and the extend to which this activity may contribute to instability in commodity markets.
§ Mr. Meacher:The available evidence suggests that neither insurance companies authorised in the United Kingdom, nor pension funds based here, invest in com- 792W ment or agency in the course of a typical year;
(2) if he will list each of the official returns which a company with an annual turnover of less than £100,000 and/or less than 20 full-time employees may be obliged by statute to complete and submit to a Government Department or agency in the course of a typical year.
§ Mr. Clinton Davis:The information in respect of statistical forms issued by the statistical service of the Department of Trade, Industry and Prices and Consumer Protection in 1977 is listed in the following table. Comparable information for non-statistical forms is not available.
Under the Companies Acts, all companies are required to make an annual return to the Registrar of Companies, and file with him accounts and certain other documents.
modities on a significant scale. There are no grounds to suppose that such investment, where it occurs, has a destabilising effect on the commodity markets.