To ask the President of the Board of Trade what estimate her Department has made of the proportion of British companies that will go bankrupt as a result of the year 2000 virus. [15205]

[holding answer 11 November 1997]: I have made no such estimate. Businesses which take appropriate action now are unlikely to become insolvent as a result of this problem, but the longer a business with a serious problem delays the greater the risk it runs. That is why the Government has recently launched the Action 2000 initiative under the chairmanship of Don Cruickshank.