Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill

Perhaps the noble Lord, Lord Stevenson, would agree with me that given that this is one of the last chances we will have to discuss Clause 4, in the range of investment criteria or investment classes that can be made through the bank, whether they be grants or loans, if the objective is to achieve leverage, it would seem sensible for more emphasis to be placed on lending money at a given rate, rather than giving it away in the form of grants. Again, a preference should be given to equity finance because it would also be of potential benefit to funds in the long run as those investments come to fruition.