Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, which companies the Government retains golden shares in for the purpose of limiting overseas ownership; and what the terms are of such shares.

In December 2015, the NAO issued the report ‘Companies in government’. As shown in Figure 7 of this report, at 31 March 2014 the government held special shares in 11 companies, across 5 departments. Changes since 31 March 2014 are shown in Figure 9 of the same report.

The exact terms of those special shares will be a matter for the relevant Secretary of State, depending on the specific arrangements that were put in place for each company.