Lord Agnew story – response from British Business Bank

A British Business Bank spokesperson said: “The British Business Bank stepped up to deliver the Bounce Back Loan Scheme on behalf of government to ensure access to finance was available at pace and at scale during the pandemic. The Bank ensured that key counter-fraud measures consistent with the self-certification design of the scheme were in place from the outset.

“A recent NAO report finds that ‘most businesses have started to repay loans’, evidenced by recent data published by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and the Bank, showing the overwhelming majority of businesses are meeting their monthly repayments.

“From the launch of the scheme, the British Business Bank has worked with lenders and across government to prevent, detect and counter fraud and put in place as quickly as possible additional measures to further mitigate fraud risks. Total prevented fraud in the Bounce Back Loan Scheme, based upon the fraud prevention activities that the lenders have been undertaking, is £2.2bn.

“The Bank is working with accredited lenders to ensure they fulfil their regulatory obligations along with their contractual commitments under the terms of the Guarantee Agreement, to recover the loans and tackle fraud. Lenders are deploying significant additional counter-fraud resource in support of these efforts.”