Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the timescale is for the accreditation of banks in Northern Ireland to enable those banks to provide Bounce Back loans to small businesses during the covid-19 outbreak.

Accrediting new lenders for the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) is a priority for the British Business Bank. The Bank is working at pace to accredit more lenders, including lenders operating in Northern Ireland, to further extend the Scheme’s reach and provide more choice for businesses.

The Bank has put substantial additional resources in place to create a streamlined process within the Bank to help onboard new lenders seeking accreditation as quickly as possible. For example, existing lenders accredited under the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) may have an expedited accreditation process for the BBLS.

There are currently 16 accredited lenders for the BBLS, with three operating specifically in Northern Ireland.