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Treasury Committee calls on banks to provide daily updates on coronavirus business interruption loan scheme lending

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Mel Stride has described the UK’s net migration figure of 745,000 as “unacceptable” and claimed tax cuts could help bring it down.
Mel Stride has described the UK’s net migration figure of 745,000 as “unacceptable” and claimed tax cuts could help bring it down.

The Treasury Committee has today written to the British Business Bank (BBB) and UK Finance to request daily updates on lending under the coronavirus business interruption loan scheme (CBILS).

Critics of the scheme, ranging from shadow business minister Ed Miliband to former Conservative chancellors George Osborne and Sajid Javid, have warned that slow lending by the banks administering the programme could lead to failures among struggling businesses.

Treasury committee chair Mel Stride MP today wrote to the BBB and UK Finance to ask them to publish daily information on:

  • The number of enquiries by scheme.
  • The number of enquiries where the lender actively discourages any application.
  • The number of applications by scheme.
  • The number of acceptances by scheme.
  • The number of rejections by scheme.
  • The total amount loaned under each scheme.

The committee has also requested the total amount loaned under the schemes by provider, which it asked for on a weekly basis.

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Stride said: “Many businesses up and down the country are facing a daily struggle for survival. They need these emergency loans urgently, but data published so far shows that it has been taking too long to reach them.

“There have been some important changes that the government has brought in to step up delivery but further improvements are now vital. We must get these systems firing on all cylinders to help businesses survive and achieve a quick V-shaped recovery.

“Data on the volume and value of these loans is published too infrequently. What gets measured tends to get done, so I have asked UK Finance and the BBB to provide us with data on a daily basis, which we will publish to help drive further vital lending.”

A British Business Bank spokesperson said: ““The British Business Bank believes having transparent, authoritative data is important. We will continue to work with UKF, whose lender members are the primary source of data, as well as HMT and BEIS, so that this data becomes available on a regular basis.”

UK Finance was contacted for comment.