§ Mr. Skinnerasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what were the payments to individuals and companies in dividends since dividend restraint was abolished in August 1979 compared with payments made in the five previous years.
§ Mr. Lawson[pursuant to his reply, 24 November, 1980.]: I regret to say that the information is not available in the form requested. However, payments of dividends on ordinary shares paid by industrial and commercial companies to other sectors of the economy are given in table 9.1 of Financial Statistics. In addition, the Stock Exchange publishes quarterly data on dividend payments, by quoted companies only, in table A7 of its "Fact Book".