§ Mr. CousinsTo ask the President of the Board of Trade, pursuant to his answer to the right hon. Member for Derby, South, (Mrs. Beckett)Official Report, 5 December 1995, columns 154–56, what percentage of total shares and individually owned shares were represented by personal equity plans for the years referred to. [5636]
§ Mrs. Angela KnightI have been asked to reply.
641WTable A shows the available information on the percentage of total shares held in personal equity plans.
Table A: Personal equity plans1 as a percentage of total shares in issue2 Percentage of Total Shares December 1987 0.1 December 1988 0.2 April 1990 0.5 April 1991 0.8 April 1992 1.2 April 1993 1.8 April 1994 2.6 1 Personal equity plans were introduced on 1 January. 2 Fully listed UK companies on the London stock exchange. The available data for PEPs includes investments in other companies as well as those listed on the London stock exchange. These other investments are thought to be very small by comparison and are unlikely to have a significant affect on the figures given in the table. Estimates of the proportion of shares held by individuals in PEPs are not available because of timing differences in when data are collected. Table B shows the available information.
Table B Shares held directly by individuals £ million Shares held directly by individuals in PEPs £ million December 1989 104,300 December 1987 300 December 1990 90,500 December 1988 490 December 1991 105,300 April 1990 1,380 December 1992 125,400 April 1991 2,440 December 1993 141,100 April 1992 3,550 December 1994 154,600 April 1993 5,710 April 1994 6,870
§ Mr. CousinsTo ask the President of the Board of Trade, pursuant to the answer to the right hon. Member for Derby, South of 5 December,Official Report, columns 154–56, if he will state all holdings of personal equity plans with special reference to such holdings in the form of bonds, collective investments such as unit trusts or collective funds or directly held shares treated as individually owned shares. [5635]
§ Mrs. Angela KnightI have been asked to reply.
I refer the hon. Member to figure 4 of the publication "Share Ownership, A report on the Ownership of Shares at 31 December 1994", which is available in the House of Commons Library.