Banks: Lending

Debate between Lord Harrison and Lord Lawson of Blaby

Wednesday 5th February 2014 Lords Chamber

[Lord Lawson of Blaby (Con)]

My Lords—

[Lord Harrison (Lab)]

My Lords, given the decline in lending to small businesses—

[Lord Lawson of Blaby]

My Lords, three months ago the Royal Bank of Scotland Group, which is owned by the Government, publicly admitted that it has been treating its SME customers abominably and undertook to change its ways. Can my noble friend tell the House what practical steps have been taken and what the Government are doing to monitor this situation, for which they have a clear and direct responsibility?

[Lord Popat]

My Lords, we are encouraging the Royal Bank of Scotland to lend more money to SMEs. In fact, the bank has lent £58 billion to small businesses. On Thursday last week, the Royal Bank, together with four other banks, launched a campaign to say that they were open to lending money to small businesses and willing to consider applications from SMEs. Therefore, the Royal Bank of Scotland is conducting a proactive campaign to make sure that it lends to small businesses.