Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent estimate he has made of the number of UK-based businesses with an annual turnover of between (a) £10,000 and £20,000, (b) £21,000 and £30,000, (c) £31,000 and £40,000, (d) £50,000 and £60,000 and (e) £70,000 and £85,000 in each of the last five years.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy does not hold data on the number of UK-based businesses with an annual turnover at the intervals provided in the question.
The Office for National Statistics publishes annual data on UK-based business with an annual turnover of between (a) £0-£49,000, (b) £50,000-£99,000, (c) £100,000-£249,000 etc.[1]
[1] ONS, UK Business: Activity, Size and Location (Table 11)
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans his Department has to help support the British Business Bank strengthen its approach to countering fraud.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Department already supports the British Business Bank (BBB) in its counter fraud activities and will continue to do so.
We work in partnership with BBB to support their compliance with the Government Functional Standards in Counter Fraud including the:-
Further, we are working to strengthen the future approach to fraud. The department is currently working with BBB on an updated fraud strategy to address the challenges associated with the Bounce Back Loan and which for instance includes:-
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of the British Business Bank being required to set higher standards for lenders than the statutory minimum because public money is at stake.
Answered by Paul Scully
Lenders accredited to deliver the Bounce Back Loan Scheme, Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme and Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme are subject to the terms of Guarantee Agreements, which they must abide by to be eligible to make a claim under the Government guarantee.
The recovery principles outlined in these agreements are no less stringent than those applied to standard commercial lending.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department plans to take steps to tackle disparities in basic lender performance of the British Business Bank, in response to some lenders putting in additional checks to counter fraud, while others did not.
Answered by Paul Scully
All lenders continue to be subject to a robust audit and assurance process by the British Business Bank. If lenders don’t meet their obligations in the Guarantee Agreement the Bank can take remedial action including cancellation of the guarantee.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to ensure strict anti-money laundering and identity checks for directors are in place at the point of company formation on Companies House.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government has already committed to introduce identity verification for all directors at the point of incorporation with Companies House. Third parties that seek to form companies are already required to be supervised for anti-money laundering purposes. Under the reforms announced by the Government in September 2020, third parties will be required to register with Companies House and have their supervision confirmed before they will be permitted to request company formations.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will provide a full list of the lenders to the (a) Bounce Back Loan Scheme, (b) Covid Business Interruption Loan Scheme and (c) Covid Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme; and which lenders have made a disproportionately high number of loans to (i) dissolved entities or (ii) entities incorporated since the outbreak of covid-19.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Department and the British Business Bank continue to work with lenders to identify and address all types of fraud perpetrated through the Covid Loan Schemes. For example, under the Bank’s Guarantee Assurance Analytics programme, BBLS lenders are investigating several thousand facilities with potential data inconsistencies, including regarding incorporation dates.
We are unable to disclose the rates of indicators of suspected fraud by individual lender at this time due to the commercially sensitive nature of this information.
Full lists of all accredited lenders as at scheme closures on 31 March 2021 are as follows:
CBILS | BBLS | CLBILS |
ABN AMRO | Bank of Scotland | Bank of Scotland |
Aldermore | Barclays | Barclays |
ART Business Loans | Clydesdale / Yorkshire Banks | Clydesdale / Yorkshire Bank |
AskIf | Danske Bank | Danske Bank |
Bank of Ireland UK | HSBC | HSBC UK |
Bank of Scotland | Lloyds Bank | Lloyds Bank |
Barclays | NatWest | NatWest |
BCRS Business Loans | RBS | RBS |
Business Enterprise Fund | Santander | Santander |
Calverton Finance | Ulster Bank | Ulster Bank |
Chamber Acorn Fund | TSB | Coutts |
Clydesdale / Yorkshire Bank | AIB | Greensill |
Compass Business Finance | Starling Bank | Metro Bank |
County Finance Group | The Co-operative Bank | OakNorth Bank |
CWRT | Bank of Ireland (UK) | Secure Trust Bank |
Danske Bank | Skipton Business Finance | ThinCats |
DSL Business Finance | Tide | Close Brothers |
Enterprise Answers | Metro Bank | HSBC Bank plc |
Finance for Enterprise | Paragon Bank | Silicon Valley Bank |
First Enterprise | JCB Finance | BBVA |
GC Business Finance | Investec | Investec |
Genesis Asset Finance | Arbuthnot Latham | Mercedes Benz Financial Services |
Haydock Finance | Coutts | AIB |
Hitachi Capital | Adam & Co | Bank of Ireland (UK) |
HSBC UK | Capital on Tap | RBC Capital Markets |
Let's Do Business Group | Funding Circle | The Co-operative Bank |
Lloyds Bank | Conister | Bank of Ireland (Governor & Company of) |
Metro Bank | GC Business Finance |
|
MSIF | Close Brothers |
|
NatWest | Bank of Scotland |
|
Newable | Barclays |
|
RBS | Clydesdale / Yorkshire Banks |
|
Robert Owen Community Banking | Danske Bank |
|
Santander | HSBC |
|
Skipton Business Finance | Lloyds Bank |
|
SWIG Finance | NatWest |
|
TSB | RBS |
|
UKSE | Santander |
|
Ulster Bank | Ulster Bank |
|
Arkle Finance Limited | TSB |
|
Close Brothers | AIB |
|
Coutts | Starling Bank |
|
Cynergy Bank | The Co-operative Bank |
|
OakNorth Bank | Bank of Ireland (UK) |
|
Secure Trust Bank | Skipton Business Finance |
|
Starling Bank | Tide |
|
The Co-operative Bank | Metro Bank |
|
Funding Circle | Paragon Bank |
|
AIB | JCB Finance |
|
IGF | Investec |
|
Paragon | Arbuthnot Latham |
|
Thincats | Coutts |
|
1pm | Adam & Co |
|
Adam & Co | Capital on Tap |
|
Assetz Capital | Funding Circle |
|
Atom bank | Conister |
|
Ebury | GC Business Finance |
|
Investec | Close Brothers |
|
Social Investment Business |
|
|
Tower Leasing |
|
|
Ultimate Finance |
|
|
White Oak UK |
|
|
Bank Leumi / Leumi ABL |
|
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Capital on Tap |
|
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MarketFinance |
|
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Shawbrook Bank |
|
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Liberis |
|
|
Community Finance Ireland (previously Ulster Community Investment Trust (UCIT)) |
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iwoca |
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Scania Financial Services |
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Triodos Bank UK |
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Woodsford TradeBridge |
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FSE Group, The |
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FW Capital |
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Mercia Asset Management |
|
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Whiterock Finance |
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Arbuthnot Commerical ABL |
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Shire Leasing |
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Silicon Valley Bank |
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Growth Lending |
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Invocap |
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NEL Fund Managers |
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Triple Point |
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4Syte |
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Asset Finance Partners |
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JCB |
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Merchant Money |
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United Trust Bank |
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Previse |
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Handelsbanken |
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Lending Crowd |
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Nucleus Commercial Finance |
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Maven Capital Partners |
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Bank of India |
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Fiduciam |
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Simply |
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Regency Factors |
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BLG Development Finance |
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Conister |
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RM Funds |
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Western Union Business Solutions |
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LendInvest |
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Interbay |
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Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) |
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Cyan Finance |
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Ortus Secured Finance |
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Greensill |
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Funding 365 |
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Hampshire Trust Bank |
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Kingsway Asset Finance |
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BRYDG Capital |
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Kennet Leasing |
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West One |
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KSEYE |
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Aspen Bridging |
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Pluto Finance |
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Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
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 effectiveness of the introduction of a market share cap, as opposed to managed shared audit, on preventing further corporate failures.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government’s White Paper on “Restoring Trust in Audit and Corporate Governance: Proposals for Reform” was published in March this year and proposed the introduction of managed shared audit as part of a package of measures, which together aim to improve corporate governance, quality of accounting, auditing and their regulation, and competition and resilience in in the FTSE 350 audit market, for the UK’s largest companies.
The Government is currently considering all submissions from stakeholders, in response to the White Paper and will publish a Government response to the consultation in due course.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the White Paper on Restoring trust in audit and corporate governance, what assessment he has made of whether managed shared audit is the most effect method of audit reform to improve resilience in the FTSE350.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government’s White Paper on “Restoring Trust in Audit and Corporate Governance: Proposals for Reform” was published in March this year and proposed the introduction of managed shared audit as part of a package of measures, which together aim to improve corporate governance, quality of accounting, auditing and their regulation, and competition and resilience in in the FTSE 350 audit market, for the UK’s largest companies.
The Government is currently considering all submissions from stakeholders, in response to the White Paper and will publish a Government response to the consultation in due course.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps the new Audit Reporting and Governance Authority (ARGA) will take to work in partnership with investors, boards, auditors and other regulators to develop a world-class system of corporate governance in practice.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has since December 2019 been undertaking a transformation programme to prepare for its transition to the Audit, Reporting and Governance Authority (ARGA). As part of this, the FRC has established a dedicated stakeholder engagement team to enable more extensive engagement and dialogue with investors, boards, auditors and other stakeholders on how the UK’s corporate governance and stewardship frameworks can continue to improve and embed good practice. Further details of this expanded outreach programme can be found in section 6 of the regulator’s latest Annual Report published in July 2021:
The new ARGA will take forward this dialogue and partnership working in line with new statutory objectives, as set out in the Government’s White Paper on ‘Restoring Trust in Audit and Corporate Governance’: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/restoring-trust-in-audit-and-corporate-governance-proposals-on-reforms.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when he plans to publish the Heat and Buildings Strategy.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government is planning to publish a Heat and Buildings Strategy in due course. The strategy will set out the immediate actions we will take for reducing emissions from buildings, as well as our approach to the key strategic decisions needed to achieve a mass transition to low-carbon heat.