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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to (a) prevent small businesses from defaulting on their bounce back loans and (b) support businesses that are in arrears.

The Government has already taken action to give small businesses the space and flexibility to repay their bounce back loans through our “Pay as You Grow” measures.

These measures give all businesses that borrowed under the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) the option to repay their loan over a period of up to ten years, as well as the option to move temporarily to interest-only payments for periods of up to six months, or to pause their repayments entirely for up to six months.

Further support is available through the Recovery Loan Scheme, which supports small and medium sized businesses to access the finance they need to grow and invest. Loans are available through accredited lenders.