§ Mr. HardyTo ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will advise the British Steel Corporation to consider further the allocation of shares to those employees who were appointed to their post by the corporation and where the corporation continues to issue all or a significant proportion of the business where their employment continues.
§ Mr. AtkinsNo. The preferential employee share arrangements which were agreed between the Government and the company and announced on 17 May 1988 are restricted to eligible employees of British Steel plc and its wholly owned subsidiaries. To have extended the coverage of these arrangements to include employees of the numerous other companies in which British Steel has a shareholding would have presented unacceptably complicated logistical and administrative difficulties.