Share Incentive Plan

HC Deb 08 January 2002 vol 377 c812W

Mr. Bercow

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much money was spent by the Government on research into the name of the Share Incentive Plan. [14434]

Ruth Kelly

In 1999 we commissioned a programme of research to develop a name for the All Employee Share Ownership Plan which companies and their employees would find meaningful and easy to use. This was in line with the general practice in communicating new incentives, and was in response to the views of the business community that they found the name "All Employee Share Ownership Plan" confusing and difficult to communicate.

The research involved employers and employees from a wide range of businesses. Employees expressed an overwhelming preference for Share Incentive Plan. The total cost of the research was £110,000.