§ 110. Mr. Ian TaylorTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what are the provisions for encouraging employee share ownership in the United Kingdom and in other member states of the European Community.
§ Mr. LilleyMajor legislation providing tax reliefs to encourage the spread of employee share ownership in the United Kingdom was introduced in the Finance Acts of 1978, 1980, 1984 and 1989. These provisions have been improved or extended in most of the intervening years. By March 1988, they had resulted in more than 1.75 million employees receiving shares or interests in shares with an initial market value of £4 billion. The available 123W information in other European Community countries is limited, but we are aware that Belgium, Denmark, France, the Republic of Ireland and the Netherlands also provide fiscal incentives to promote employee share ownership.