§ Mr. MilburnTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what were the administration costs for the share offers relating to each privatisation since 1979 broken down by(a) selling and other commissions, (b) marketing, (c) receiving bank costs, (d) advisers' fees, (e) underwriting and (f) other costs; and in each case what was the total cost. [17643]
§ Mr. JackThe costs of individual sales are included in National Audit Office reports on particular sales. Published reports are available in the Library of the 139W House. In addition, I refer to the replies given to the hon. Member for North-West Durham (Ms Armstrong) on 23 March 1995, Official Report, columns 287–88, and on
£million Commissions and fees Marketing costs and printing Receiving banks and logistics Advisers Total British Coal (1995) 1— 0.6 2.4 134 37 Genco2 (1995) 29 15 9 4 57 1Cost here are included in the figure for advisers. The estimated costs for the Railtrack sale were given in reply to a question from the hon. Member for York (Mr. Bayley) on 4 June 1996, Official Report, column 1429. The costs of the sale of British Energy will be reported to Parliament in the normal way in due course.
This information relates to major privatisations. Information on all smaller sales is not collated centrally and could be collected only at disproportionate cost.