I must thank everybody, particularly the Minister, for her reply. Of course, this is a probing amendment—and I think that we have managed to probe and get quite a lot out of it that is beneficial. I thank the noble Lord, Lord Flight, too. I absolutely agree that there is a huge issue with equity for small businesses. Since I started studying economics a long time ago, there has always been that equity gap that needs to be plugged. In some ways, I am not sure that a huge amount of progress has been made on it.
I suppose that it depends on how you look at these things. If you go to visit some of the banks, as I do—and I hear what the Minister says in that regard—you could think that after five years it is a golden period for small businesses and that it is all absolutely rosy. You hear stories, such as were mentioned by the noble Baroness, of 71% of all applications being approved. However, it depends what you mean by an application. Many applications fall at earlier levels before they get to the formal point.
All I can say—I shall be speaking a little later about my own experiences with a small business—is that it is incredibly tough for small businesses that have been going for two or three years to raise the money necessary for them to expand, and I am talking about successful companies. Therefore, I suppose that I take a far more pessimistic view than the noble Baroness. More needs to be done to encourage these businesses. Nevertheless, I am somewhat reassured by what she said, and of course I beg leave to withdraw the amendment.