Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to monitor how accredited lenders are applying the Growth Guarantee Scheme, including the use of personal guarantees, the interest rates being charged, and the criteria used to assess applications from viable small businesses; and whether he will require the British Business Bank to publish annual performance data for the Scheme, including application volumes, approval and decline rates, average APRs, and the proportion of facilities supported by personal guarantees.

Accredited lenders must operate within Growth Guarantee Scheme (GGS) rules and the British Business Bank (BBB) monitors lenders to ensure compliance with those requirements.

Decisions on individual lending applications, including the assessment of whether a business meets GGS eligibility criteria, the use of personal guarantees and the interest rates charged, are decisions for accredited lenders, undertaken in accordance with the Scheme's rules and each lender's own credit and risk assessment processes.

The BBB publishes quarterly performance data for GGS, including information on the number and value of facilities, sectoral and regional distribution, the characteristics of supported businesses, and portfolio performance.