HC Deb 16 May 1995 vol 260 cc107-8W
Sir Thomas Arnold

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his latest estimate of the loss of revenue from cross-border shopping. [23357]

Administrative costs1 of privatization
£ million
Year Selling and other commissions Marketing2 Receiving bank costs UK advisers Fees UK underwriting Other costs3 Total
Amersham International 1982 — 0.1 — — 0.4 — 2.9
Associated British Ports 1983 — 0.3 — — 0.4 — 2.6
1984 — 0.1 — — 40.9 — 1.4
British Aerospace 1981 — 0.6 — — 42.3 — 5.6
1985 — 1.9 — — 7.0 — 17.8
BAA 1987 4.2 10 16.0 2.4 13.6 — 46.2
British Airways 1987 2.9 6.2 8.3 4.3 7.8 5.2 34.7
BP 1979 — — — — 3.8 — 7
1983 — — — — 8.3 — 22.8
1987 2.1 48.3 4.7 5.4 38.2 55.3 5154.0
British Steel 1988 1.7 11.6 4.3 5.6 21.3 13.9 58.4
BT 1984 13 14 20 6 74 58 185
1991 30.2 38.8 39.1 7.4 — 66.9 182.4
1993 48.5 29.2 14.9 5.6 — 32.9 131.2
Britoil 1982 — 0.3 — — 9.8 — 12.6
1985 — 4.1 3.7 — 6.9 5.6 23.3
Cable and Wireless 1981 — 0.3 — — 43.4 — 8.9
1983 0.2 0.9 — — 4.3 — 12.5
1985 — 2.8 — — 8.7 — 21.4
Enterprise Oil 1984 — 0.2 — — 47.0 — 10.7
National Freight Consortium 1982 — — — — — — 0.3
Rolls-Royce 1987 4.2 4.0 11.0 2.2 12.5 — 33.9
1 Only costs borne by the Exchequer are shown. Costs shown include VAT and stamp duty, but exclude the cost of incentives and interest earned on application monies.
2 Including the operation of the Share Information Office (where applicable).
3 Includes overseas expenses.
4 Includes some advisory fees.
5 Excludes the cost of the Bank of England purchase scheme (27m).

Mr. Heathcoat-Amory

Estimates for the amount of legal cross border shopping for alcohol and tobacco in the year to December 1994 are now available.

The consequential loss of tax revenue may be expressed in one of two ways. On the traditional measurement, which formed the basis of the Customs and Excise advice to the Treasury and Civil Service Committee in 1994 and excludes both additional consumption effects and pre-single-market purchases, the revenue loss would be £210 million compared with the previous estimate of £200 million. However, given the additional passage of time, I am minded in future estimates to stop deducting the value of the pre-single-market element. On that adjusted basis the total revenue loss is £360 million.