Clause 64 - Venture capital
Finance Bill
4:30 pm
Miss Melanie Johnson (Economic Secretary, HM Treasury; Welwyn Hatfield, Labour)
The hon. Gentleman has raised the point and my hon. Friend the Paymaster General has undertaken to bear it in mind. I should not want to cut across what were obviously happy exchanges of views on the Floor of the House. However, as the right hon. Gentleman mentioned foot and mouth in the context of CVS, it may be worthwhile my making one point. It is much the same point as I made earlier in the context of foot and mouth: CVS is not an appropriate vehicle as it targets only companies. Our figures show that fewer than 5 per cent. of livestock farms could potentially qualify. In terms of the farming community, not many people are likely to qualify for CVS because not many work on the basis of company organisation. The measure would not therefore particularly help farmers hit by foot and mouth.