§ 89. Mr. Sayeedasked the Paymaster General what is the trend in venture capital investment in small firms.
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Table 1—Labour Force Survey data for Great Britain on persons aged 16–19, 20–24 living in private households: Spring each year thousands 1979 1981 1983 1984 1985 Age Males Females Males Females Males Females Males Females Males Females 16–19 In employment* 1,067 931 1,012 932 964 889 1,003 915 1,018 948 In employment full-time† 1,002 838 840 727 764 623 797 655 803 663 In employment part-time† 41 75 122 181 118 203 169 242 172 266 Unemployed‡ 156 155 304 245 316 237 284 230 257 207 Inactive students|| 478 489 474 481 522 527 488 466 450 413 Others¶ 37 119 37 110 51 133 33 129 38 133 Total 1,738 1,694 1,827 1,768 1,853 1,775 1,807 1,740 1,763 1,702 20–24 In employment* 1,679 1,202 1,563 1,234 1,562 1,274 1,626 1,311 1,708 1,361 In employment full-time† 1,578 1,056 1,417 1,058 1,521 1,128 1,575 1,126 1,639 1,165 In employment part-time† 12 117 18 121 30 136 47 182 68 196 Unemployed‡ 120 115 291 175 361 197 377 227 357 210 Inactive students|| 125 81 158 108 155 114 158 114 138 96
§ Mr. TrippierIndustry sources indicate that a total of £279 million was invested by United Kingdom-based venture capital organisations in 597 United Kingdom companies in 1985. These figures represent increases of 22 per cent. and 3 per cent., respectively, over the corresponding figures for 1984. Information on the size of companies benefiting from these investments is not available although 30 per cent. of financings in 1985, representing 20 per cent. of the total amount invested, supported start-up or other early stage developments In addition, direct investments by individuals under the business expansion scheme are providing significant amounts of equity capital for small companies.