To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the numbers of new shareholders since 1979; and whether he intends to promote measures further to encourage the growth of individual share ownership.

I have been asked to reply. The joint Treasury and stock exchange survey carried out in January and February 1989 estimated that approximately 9 million people own shares—20 per cent. of the adult population; a threefold increase since 1979.