Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether (a) persons and (b) organisations from outside Government were involved in designing the Government's covid-19 emergency loan schemes.

Since March 2020, the Government has introduced a collection of emergency loan guarantee schemes to support businesses’ access to lending in response to Covid-19. As of 21st March 2021, these schemes have collectively approved more than £75 billion worth of finance through more than 1.6 million facilities to support businesses of all sizes to get through the pandemic.

On 23 March 2020, the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) was launched, building closely off the former Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG) Scheme which ran from 2009 to 2020.

The Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CLBILS) and the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) were launched on 20 April and 4 May 2020 respectively. These schemes responded to market feedback that both the largest and smallest UK businesses needed support outside CBILS. CLBILS offered Government-guaranteed loans to businesses with a turnover greater than £45 million who needed bigger loans that £5 million. BBLS offered 100% guaranteed loans to ensure that the smallest businesses could access loans from £2,000 up to £50,000, capped at 25% of businesses’ turnover in a matter of just days, as these businesses had struggled with the eligibility criteria for CBILS.

In launching these schemes and ensuring their smooth operation thereafter, the British Business Bank (BBB), HM Treasury and BEIS worked closely with the finance industry and business groups to ensure Government-backed finance could get to the businesses who needed it most. These discussions focused purely on how the schemes could function as effectively as possible; they did not cover the entry criteria for firms who wanted to participate in the scheme as accredited lenders.