HC Deb 11 December 1990 vol 182 cc319-20W
Mr. Morgan

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy how many separate individual applicants have applied for shares in the regional electricity companies of England and Wales.

Mr. Dobson

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy how many individuals have made applications for shares in one or more regional electricity company.

Mr. Wakeham

A total of 12.75 million applications have been made for shares in the 12 regional companies share offers. Precise figures are not available at this stage, but the number of application forms is estimated at over 5 million. This is the highest number for any privatisation.

Mr. Morgan

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will estimate for each regional electricity company floated, what the breakdown is of(a) within franchise area individual shareholders, (b) outside franchise area individual shareholders and (c) institutional shareholders.

Mr. Heathcoat-Amory

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 10 December 1990, at column300.

Mr. Dobson

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy whether he is yet in a position to state how many applications for shares in one or more regional electricity companies have been received from households involving more than one applicant.

Mr. Wakeham

No.

Mr. Morgan

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what is the estimated cost allocated for the use of the TRAP computer programme for the detection of illegal multiple share applications for shares in the electricity flotation.

Mr. Heathcoat-Amory

The electricity fraud auditors have set up a number of sophisticated systems for the detection of multiple share applications. The costs will depend on the scale of the work required.