Clause 64 - Venture capital
Finance Bill
4:30 pm
Mr Michael Jack (Fylde, Conservative)
The clause makes some useful improvements to the venture capital trust arrangements, and indeed to the corporate venturing scheme. I rise merely to tell the Economic Secretary that I was grateful during my Second Reading speech for the Paymaster General's kindness in agreeing to consider two points that I made in connection with both venture capital trusts and the enterprise investment scheme, which was the subject of an earlier clause, about the qualifying trades that could benefit from the provisions. The reason that I mention that in this context is that, sadly, land-based industries will not benefit from the provisions of clause 64, because currently they cannot benefit from venture capital trusts or enterprise investment schemes. In the context of the recovery of the agriculture industry and associated industries from the effects of foot and mouth disease there is a case for a temporary reprieve to consider the qualifying trades that could benefit from the clause and to lift the current restriction that prevents land-based industries from benefiting from those ways to bring new investment capital to their activities.
I do not expect for one moment that the Economic Secretary will give me a definitive reply to that point; I merely ask her if she would be kind enough to convey to the Paymaster General my continuing interest in the matter—oh, the Paymaster General is present, I do apologise. Those two investment vehicles, with the changes proposed in the clause, could well be useful for the regeneration of agriculturally based businesses and businesses in the areas affected by foot and mouth.