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Finance (No. 2) Bill

I am grateful to the Financial Secretary for that information, which reinforces my view. Given that there will to be no visible change in the cost to the Treasury in forgone tax—if anything, the cost might even increase slightly—is the proposed across-the-board test on eligible assets the most elegant way of ensuring that the limited sums available are focused on the right area? As the Financial Secretary knows, certain sectors of the small business world are perhaps more demanding than others, and some are more deserving. Applying seemingly arbitrary figures across the board—he has yet to explain how he arrived at the figures of £8 million and £7 million, rather than, say, £10 million—will not enable us to focus on the companies and sectors that need support.