§ Mr. Nicholas BennettTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give the estimated annual return on investment capital for each year since 1970.
§ Mr. MajorThe information requested is as follows:
Net real rate of return1 for non-North sea industrial and commercial companies (per cent.) 1970 8.9 1971 9.2 1972 9.5 1973 8.9 1974 5.3 1975 4.2 1976 4.3 1977 6.7 1978 7.1 1979 5.6 1980 3.8 1981 2.8 1982 4.0 1983 4.9 1984 5.6 1985 7.2 1986 8.9 1987 10.2 1Net operating surplus on United Kingdom operations as a percentage of net capital stock of fixed assets before investment and tax at current replacement cost. Source: Department of Trade and Industry: published in "British Business" on 30 September 1988.