Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on applications of appeals processes for commercial banking overdraft refusals being conducted by the same bank which originally refused the application; and what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of (a) changing that process and (b) taking steps to make the process more transparent.

The Treasury has not made an assessment of the effect on applications in the Appeals Process for SME lending being conducted by the same bank which originally refused the application.

The Appeals Process is a voluntary initiative by the major banks and is overseen by Professor Russel Griggs, the Independent External Reviewer to the process. Since 2011, over 17,000 appeals have been made of which 32% have led to overturned decisions. It is estimated that the Appeals process has put back around £100m of lending into the economy since its inception. Professor Griggs publishes regular reports on the Appeals Process, looking at both implementation and outcomes. The latest report can be found at:

http://betterbusinessfinance.co.uk/images/pdfs/Annual_Report_2016_(Year_5)_Final.pdf