Call for Evidence

The Treasury Committee has decided to undertake a short inquiry into the venture capital market.

The Committee would welcome written evidence on the following areas:

• The current state of the venture capital industry in the United Kingdom, including opportunities and threats, such as the availability of domestic capital to allow firms to scale up in the UK.
• The level of co-operation/integration between start-ups and established industry
• The operation and effectiveness of the current tax incentives (such as the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS), the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) and Venture Capital Trusts (VCTs)) in the venture capital market, including any options for change.
• The operation and effectiveness of the regulatory regime(s) concerning venture capital.
• The role of other key bodies, such as the British Business Bank and the programmes which it oversees (including the Future Fund and British Patient Capital), and the Advanced Research and Invention Agency, and how they can support the venture capital market.
• The merits of policy proposals for strengthening the venture capital industry in the United Kingdom, such as:
  • Opening new pools of capital for venture capital investment, such as pension funds, retail products (e.g. investment through ISAs)
  • Generating home-grown talent through the education system
  • Attracting international talent through the visa system
  • Any other possible Government or public sector intervention
• The effectiveness of any other government or public sector intervention in the venture capital industry.
• The effectiveness of government policy around venture capital in meeting wider government objectives (for example: around “levelling-up” and tackling regional inequality, the aim for the UK to be a science and technology “superpower”, net zero).

In any responses, the Committee would particularly welcome international comparisons and examples of international best practice, examples of potential change and/or policy proposals, and/or relevant statistics. Whilst examples for evidence are given above, responses should not necessarily be restricted to the areas that these highlight.

The Committee would welcome any submissions by 5.00 pm on Tuesday 7 June 2022.