§ Mr. Bulmerasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what information he has about the extent and nature of profit-sharing schemes in industry; what has been the recent trend in the formation of such schemes; and whether he has any plans further to facilitate the setting up of such schemes.
§ Mr. RidleyAt 31 May 1982 there were 291 profit-sharing schemes and 149 savings-related share option schemes approved by the Inland Revenue under the provisions in the Finance Acts 1978 and 1980 respectively. The Inland Revenue has continued in recent months to receive a steady flow of applications for approval of new schemes.
Under the approved profit-sharing schemes, shares to a total value of about £30 million were appropriated to 145,000 employees in the year 1979–80, and about a further £50 million to 271,000 employees in the year 1980–81. Comparable figures for 1981–82, the first full year of operation of approved share option schemes, are not yet available. The large majority of the schemes involve voting shares.
Figures relating to non-approved schemes are not available, but an independent survey estimated last year, taking approved and non-approved schemes together, that companies which operate share schemes employ between them a total of around 1.5 million employees.
My hon. Friend will be aware that we have already given substantial encouragement to employee share schemes, but we shall continue to keep this area under review.