§ Mr. Woodcockasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the application of the BT shareholder telephone voucher arrangements to businesses.
§ Mr. PattieVouchers have been issued to over half a million British Telecom shareholders. The scheme is working well. Under the BT prospectus, companies, partnerships, firms, trusts and associations were not eligible to apply for telephone vouchers and individual investors could use vouchers only against their own BT telephone bills or the bills of their spouses. Accordingly, BT and the Post Office were instructed to reject all vouchers submitted against bills in business names. I have received a small number of complaints about this from individual investors who are sole traders on the grounds that they are personally and solely liable to British Telecom for their bills, in a manner distinct, for example, from partnerships. Having reviewed the position, I accept that, under the terms of the prospectus, vouchers should not have been rejected in these particular circumstances. I am therefore giving revised instructions to BT and the Post Office in this respect.