§ Mr. Matthew BanksTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer at conclusions he has reached following consultation on the proposal to amend the Trustee Investments Act 1961 to increase the proportion of assets that all trusts are allowed to invest in wider range investments; and if he will make a statement. [1781]
§ Mrs. Angela KnightIn the short term, as proposed in the consultation document, the Treasury will make an order under section 13 of the Trustee Investments Act 1961 to change the split of wider and narrower range investments from 50:50 to 75:25, the maximum allowable under the Act as it now stands. This proportion was introduced for charities earlier this year by the Charities (Trustee Investments Act 1961) Order 1995.
In the longer term, the Government have concluded, in the light of representations from a wide range of interests, most recently the deregulation task force in its first annual report, that a fundamental deregulatory reform of the Trustee Investment Act is now called for. The requirements for division of assets into "narrow" and "broad" investments and for consequent dual accounting are burdensome. The Government will issue by 1 May 1996 a consultation document on options for further deregulatory change, drawing on detailed work to be undertaken by the Law Commission for England and Wales and the Scottish Law Commission in conjunction with the independent trust law committee.
Financial perspective expenditure ceilings Preliminary draft budget 2 Parliament draft budget Council second reading draft budget mecu £ million1 mecu £ million mecu £ million mecu £ million Commitment appropriations Common Agricultural Policy 40,828 34,341 40,828 34,341 40,828 34,341 40,828 34,341 Structural operations 29,131 24,502 29,131 24,502 29,131 24,502 29,131 24,502 Internal policies 5,337 4,489 5,267 4,430 5,324 4,478 5,198 4,372 External action 5,264 4,428 5,157 4,338 5,252 4,417 5,174 4,352 Administrative expenditure 4,191 3,525 4,132 3,475 4,130 3,473 4,104 3,452 Reserves 1,152 969 1,152 969 1,152 969 1,152 969 Compensation 701 590 701 590 701 590 701 590 Total Commitments 86,604 72,844 86,368 72,645 86,517 72,771 86,288 72,578 Total payment appropriations 82,192 69,133 82,015 68,984 81,360 68,884 81,603 68,367 Notes:
1 Throughout this reply the rate of £1=1.889 ecu has been used (the rate notified in the Official Journal as prevailing on the last working day of last month (31 October).
2 As amended in Letter of Amendment No. 1 from the figure which appeared in the Commission's Overview of the PDB for 1996 to take account of the higher bid for agriculture under category 1.
The European Parliament will consider the draft budget for 1996 at its plenary session in December. The 1996 Community budget is expected to be adopted by the Parliament on 14 December, to take effect from 1 January 1996.
The Council took no formal votes, the presidency concluding that there was the necessary majority to establish the Second Reading draft budget for 1996.