§ Mr. Frank FieldTo ask the right hon. Member for Selby, as representing the Church Commissioners, if the Commissioners have been involved in dividend stripping as distinct from any gilt stripping activities; and if he will list the gains from such activity in each of the last five years?
§ Mr. AlisonThe amounts shown in my answers of 25 February and 4 March on the subject of gilt stripping represented the differences between interest on gilts calculated on the receipts basis and interest calculated on the accruals basis. No such alternative bases apply to dividends from equities: in common with other investment funds, the Church Commissioners account for dividends on the receipt basis and consider it impractical either to account for dividends on the accruals basis or to recalculate with hindsight what the dividends would have been if calculated on this basis.
While the Commissioners continue to manage their investments with the intention of generating a high level of income, this is achieved in relation to their equities portfolio through the selection of appropriate investments.