§ Mr. LoveTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many employees of(a) mutual, (b) co-operative and (c) employee trust award companies would benefit if the present rules were changed to permit such organisations to participate in employee share ownership plans; what plans there are to expand ESOPs in this way; and if he will make a statement. [14464]
§ Ruth KellyEmployees of registered industrial and provident societies which are co-operatives are already able to participate in the Share Incentive Plan introduced last year. Companies such as mutual organisations and trust-owned companies that do not issue shares are not able to participate.
We estimate that some 70,000 staff are employed by mutual organisations and around 60,000 are employed by trust owned businesses in the UK. We have not yet been able to devise a way in which the link between share ownership and company performance might be reflected in such corporate structures.
§ Mr. LoveTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many employees in the different sectors of the economy(a) are benefiting from and (b) are entitled to receive money under the employee share ownership plans (i) in total and (ii) as a percentage of employees in that sector; what plans he has to extend ESOPs; and if he will make a statement. [14465]
§ Dawn PrimaroloTax advantaged share plans are generally open to employees in all sectors of the economy. However, Enterprise Management Incentives are not open to companies engaged in certain trades considered to involve low financial risk. We estimate that some 2.5 million employees are benefiting from tax advantaged share and share option schemes. Up to March of this year, some 81,000 employees have benefited from the new 609W Share Incentive Plan introduced last year. Figures are not available on a sectoral basis and the cost of obtaining the information would be disproportionate.