Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what his latest estimate is of when the pilot No Interest Loan Scheme run by Fair4AllFinance will be launched in Northern Ireland.

The government funded No Interest Loan Scheme (NILS) is being run by Fair4AllFinance, in conjunction with their partners. The pilot is designed to test the impact that NILS could have on addressing the needs of vulnerable consumers across the UK.

Fair4All Finance have now rolled out the pilot in England, Scotland and Wales. The lack of an Executive in Northern Ireland has impacted the ability of Fair4All Finance to access lending capital to extend the pilot to Northern Ireland. Fair4All Finance will continue to engage closely with stakeholders in an effort to deliver our shared ambition to launch a pilot site in Northern Ireland.