HC Deb 23 February 1995 vol 255 cc274-5W
Mr. Peter Bottomley

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of new long-dated government borrowing is from the accumulated funds of(a) insurance linked saving, (b) a personal equity plans and (c) tax-exempt special savings accounts.

Mr. Nelson

Information is available only for the net investment in long-dated government stock by insurance companies, unit and investment trusts up to September 1994.

Table: Net investment in British Government Securities (over 15 years maturity and undated). £ million and as a percentage of long gilt insurance.
1993–94 1994 (April-September)
£ million Percentage £ million Percentage
Insurance Companies 7,943 66.7 1,951 85.4
Unit Trusts 86 0.7 -31 -1.4
Investment Trusts 114 1.0 -54 -2.4

Source:

CSO, "Financial Statistics", tables 1.2C, 5.1A, 5.2C and 5.2D.

No information is available on the proportion of PEP funds specifically invested in long-dated gilts. TESSAs represent a significant proportion of bank and building society retail funds. Although bank and building societies currently own around 9½ per cent. of UK government stock, these holdings are predominantly of short and medium-dated issues. No information is available on their recent transactions in long-dated stock.