Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many small and medium-sized enterprises received money from the Funding for Lending Scheme in (a) Preston, (b) Lancashire and (c) the North West in (i) 2012, (ii) 2013 and (iii) 2014.
The Funding for Lending Scheme is not a direct source of finance for businesses. The scheme was introduced in July 2012 to help to reduce elevated bank funding costs and incentivise lending to the real economy. It does this by providing funding to participating banks and building societies, the quantity of which is linked to their net lending performance. Individual lending decisions remain a commercial consideration for the bank or building society concerned. More broadly, gross lending to businesses in the UK has been increasing since 2012, particularly to SMEs. In 2014, gross lending to SMEs was £53bn; 24% higher than 2013 and 40% higher than 2012.