§ 29. Mr. Dykesasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the progress of Her Majesty's Government's programme of privatisation of public sector corporations.
§ Mr. MooreSince 1979, we have privatised 12 major businesses with over 400,000 employees. This represents over 20 per cent. of the state industrial sector we inherited in 1979. By the end of next year, the privatisations currently under preparation will have reduced state ownership of industry by almost half.
§ 31. Mr. Lofthouseasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his latest estimate of the cumulative revenue effects of the privatisation programme.
§ Mr. MooreThe privatisation programme affects Government finances in a number of ways. Privatisation proceeds offset public expenditure in the year in which they are received. There will be changes (in that year and subsequently) in the total net external finance of the nationalised industries; there may also be changes in the interest and dividend payments made to the Government. And, as the effects of privatisation feed through into company performance, there will be increases in receipts from direct and indirect taxation. It is not possible to estimate the net effect of these changes, as this would require knowledge of the way state-owned companies would have performed had they not been privatised.