§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will bring up to date the information on the growth of life assurance pension schemes given in the answer to the hon. Member for Great Grimsby on 7 March 1984, Official Report, columns 581–82, and if he will add figures for unit trusts and investment trusts together with his estimate of the gain in revenue to the Exchequer which would result from the ending of tax relief for pension schemes.
§ Mr. Norman LamontInformation on the growth of life assurance and pension funds is published in "Financial Statistics", copies of which are in the Library. Tables are also included about unit trusts and investment trusts. The revenue effect of withdrawing reliefs from pension schemes would depend on the alternative tax regime adopted. Direct revenue costs of some of the components of these reliefs are given in table 2.24 of "The Government's Expenditure Plans 1986–87 to 1988–89" (Cmnd. 9702).