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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has had recent discussions with the British Business Bank on its decision to challenge freedom of information requests made by the Times newspaper and Spotlight on Corruption on the Bounce Back Loan Scheme.

No Freedom of Information requests from the Times in relation to the Bounce Back Loans Scheme are subject to challenge either before the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) or the First Tier Tribunal.

BEIS officials were sighted on British Business Bank written responses to the ICO in relation a complaint brought by Spotlight on Corruption on the Bounce Back Loan Scheme and were also sighted on the Bank’s subsequent response to Spotlight’s appeal to the First Tier Tribunal.