Recommendation 19

The Government indicated that its overarching objective was speed.48 No written objectives were outlined at the inception of the Scheme and no business case was put forward. The Bank, HM Treasury and the Department, did not agree the Scheme objectives until 15 July and there are no plans in place to measure the Scheme’s impact.49 Performance measures, such as the number of insolvencies prevented, have not been decided. The Department believes the Scheme was a success as it reached micro- businesses across regions and sectors.50 However, neither the Department nor the Bank know which businesses would not have survived with or without a pandemic. The Bank informed us that it would seek to identify those businesses during its Scheme monitoring and evaluation.51