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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of amending British Business Bank lending criteria to allow businesses which have accumulated losses greater than half of their share capital access to loans under the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme.

Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) lending criteria relating to accumulated losses are driven by State Aid rules. The Government continues to hold a regular dialogue with the British Business Bank and CBILS lenders to monitor its implementation.

We continue to receive feedback on all our support for businesses and will seek to identify any areas for improvement.