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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the cost to the public purse has been of the 100 per cent guarantee under the Bounce Back Loan Scheme for loans (a) which have been found to be fraudulent and (b) where the recipient has defaulted on that loan.

As of 31 July 2022, £263 million has been paid out to lenders against loans with a ‘suspected fraud’ flag. It is important to note that this is the figure for monies paid out in settlement so far, and does not include loans which are currently in default or claimed status but which have not been settled.

Please note that ‘suspected fraud’ will not necessarily equate to actual fraud in the scheme and the marking of a loan as ‘suspected fraud’ within the scheme portal does not necessarily mean that there has been any proven wrongdoing on the part of the borrower.