Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has received representations on the cost of lending required by (a) Maxcap business loans, (b) Capify business loans and (c) Funding Circle’s Flexipay product.

The Government receives representations from a range of stakeholders about matters across financial services and the economy. Disputes are a matter for the Financial Ombudsman Service rather than the Government.

I would refer my honourable friend to the answers I provided on the topic of SME lending on 24 November, 26 November and 27 November, including in relation to the rates for short-term lending to small and medium sized businesses in the UK.

As set out in my previous response, interest rates, including those offered by individual providers, are a commercial matter decided by the lender concerned, reflecting the base rate, the risk of the applicant, and a margin to make the loan commercially viable given the cost of underwriting and broader funding costs. The Government does not intervene in commercial offerings, and SMEs should shop around to find the product that best suits their needs when choosing finance, which in turn helps drive competition, improves choice, and may support pricing.