In a submission to the UK government ahead of the budget, the British Venture Capital Association (BVCA) has welcomed efforts to facilitate the development the growth and development of small businesses, but has argued that further action could be taken in this area "without imposing additional cost".

Speaking with regard to one such area, the UK Innovation Investment Fund (UKIIF), the BVCA observed that:

"The UKIIF has the potential to see high quality but struggling venture-backed companies through the downturn as well as to play a longer term catalytic role in encouraging institutional and other investors to allocate more to venture as an asset class."

"The BVCA has long been an advocate for this scheme and we have been encouraged by the progress made since the announcement in June 2009. The additional capital raised by the two fund of funds managers is an impressive achievement in the current climate and we hope that the UKIIF framework is seen as a template for future interventions in this area."

"The focus now must be on ensuring that the capital raised is invested speedily so that the young innovative companies at which the scheme is aimed receive the financing they need."

The BVCA went on to suggest that the government should consider creating a gateway for existing small company schemes.

It explained that:

"The BVCA has (in recent submissions over a number of years) proposed a series of amendments to existing small company interventions, which we believe could make a significant difference to both the effectiveness of these schemes as well as the environment for venture capital in the UK. These
include alterations to the Enterprise Management Incentive, the Enterprise Investment Scheme and R&D Tax Credit as well as Venture Capital Trusts."

"Given current pressures on public spending however, we realise that the costs of introducing such measures are unlikely to be practicable. A more immediate and feasible suggestion would be to bring the existing interventions together ‘under one roof’."

The Association observed that:

"Knowledge of and access to the whole range of small company schemes could certainly be better. A ‘one stop shop’ which acted as a gateway to schemes, as well as a repository for data on them, could be highly beneficial and have the potential to make a difference in the near term. We encourage Government to give serious consideration to this idea in the lead up to the Budget."