(Except Clauses 1, 4, 5, 9, 14, 22, 42, 56, 57, 124, 130 to 135, 138, 139, 148 and 184 and Schedules 5, 6, 19 and 25, and any new Clauses and Schedules tabled by Friday 9th May 2003 relating to excise duty on spirits or RÿD tax credits for oil exploration.) - Schedule 22 - Employee securities and options

Part of Finance Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 2:45 pm on 22 May 2003.

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Photo of Dawn Primarolo Dawn Primarolo Paymaster General (HM Treasury) 2:45, 22 May 2003

Indeed. The repeal of the dependent subsidiary regime, for example, which it would not be an overstatement to say was universally hated, was introduced by a joint working party with full consultation on the basis that it did not work. I do not want to mislead the hon. Gentleman by saying that a draft of schedule 22 was sent out for consultation. The lengthy consultation concerned the inconsistencies and problems between and within the schemes and the schemes' interactions with the capital gains regime. In a moment, we will come to venture capital, which is important. During those discussions, numerous points were made about how practitioners would like to see the schemes improved.

The changes to the three-year period in schedule 21 were removed by Government amendment No. 166. The consultation produced the argument, which was apparently universally accepted, that we should make that change, but disagreements emerged on the detail. The hon. Member for Billericay is right to ask how I can guarantee that we consult with everybody—I cannot, of course, guarantee that and we have to do our best.