Recommendation 26

We asked whether, with hindsight and more time, it would have been possible to design a scheme that would have had significantly less exposure to fraud and error than 61 Q104; Public Accounts Committee, Covid-19: Bounce Back Loan Scheme, Thirty-Third Report of Session 2019–21, HC 687, 16 December 2020, para 19 62 Public Accounts Committee, Covid-19: Bounce Back Loan Scheme, Thirty-Third Report of Session 2019–21, HC 687, 16 December 2020, para 6 63 Qq 22, 69, 89–90 64 Qq 89–90; C&AG’s Report, para 17 65 Comptroller & Auditor General, Support to businesses during a recession, Session 2009–2010, HC 490, 26 March 2010, para 18 66 Q 68 67 Q 91 68 Qq 10, 105 18 Bounce Back Loans Scheme: Follow-up the Scheme. The Department explained that a situation where it needs to introduce a support scheme with a 100% guarantee and achieve a fast disbursement would “probably be more infrequent than once-in-a-generation events”. However, it acknowledged that it would now be better prepared as it has better data sharing in place and can take advantage of counter-fraud measures like “duplicate flags” or the “HMRC turnover checks”.69 69 Qq 68, 70 Bounce Back Loans Scheme: Follow-up 19