§ Mrs. Curtis-ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the impact of the Enterprise Fund on(a) the availability of venture capital for very early stage high technology firms and (b) the delivery of the small firms loan guarantee scheme. [123548]
§ Mr. Alan JohnsonOne of the key elements of the Enterprise Fund is the UK High Technology Fund which is being established to address an acknowledged weakness of the venture capital market in this area. On 3 April David Irwin announced that the fund manager, Wesport Private Equity, had been successful in raising £57 million from the private sector, alongside £20 million of Government money, for the UK High Technology Fund. The Fund has been set a final closing target of £125 million, of which £105 million will be from the private sector. Wesport Private Equity continues to raise money from the private sector towards this closing target.
The Small Firms Loan Guarantee Scheme has been running since 1981 and is periodically evaluated by independent consultants. A report of the most recent study, which looked at all aspects of the scheme including its delivery, was published in March 1999. The recommendations of this report are currently being considered.