§ Lord Underhillasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they still accept the principle of a mixed economy, and, if so, whether they will provide details of those industries which in their opinion should continue in the public sector.
What are the criteria by which they determine to privatise (sell off) the whole or part of a publicly owned industry or undertaking.
§ Lord CockfieldPrivatisation represents by far the most effective means of extending market forces, and in turn of improving efficiency and the allocation of resources. In addition, it furthers the Government's objective of wider share ownership. These criteria are applied to individual cases according to circumstances, and the judgments concerned are essentially empirical. The Government's flexible approach is exemplified by the wide range of forms privatisation has taken, including the sale of approximately half the equity in British Aerospace and Cable and Wireless, a management buy-out of the National Freight Company, the merger of Seaspeed with a private sector company, Hoverlloyd, and the establishment of the British Steel Corporation's private subsidiary Allied Steel and Wire Limited. In some cases, the objective of extending market forces may not involve any transfer of control; for example, where a nationalised industry's statutory monopoly is abolished to allow the build-up of private sector competition.