Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the statement of losses and special payments in his Department’s annual report for 2021-22, what organisation was the original recipient of the £6 million infrastructure loan written off by his Department; what infrastructure project was that loan intended to fund; and in which financial year was the loan paid.

As part of the UK Guarantees Scheme, HM Treasury (HMT) provided a £48m guarantee in August 2014 for bonds issued by the Speyside Biomass Combined Heat and Power project in Moray, Scotland. In October 2020, Speyside Renewable Energy Partnership entered administration and HMT provided a working capital loan to the administrators.

The asset was sold in March 2022 and the debt guarantee was released with the guaranteed debt fully repaid in March 2022. However, as part of the administration process, the working capital loan was not fully repaid and £6 million was written off as reported in the Annual Reports and Accounts.