Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
34th Report - Department for Business and Trade Annual Report and Accounts 2023-24
Public Accounts Committee
HC 818
Published 25 June 2025
Government response
Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Thirty-fourth report from Session 2024-26 · published 18 Sep 2025
Recommendations & Conclusions
24
Conclusion
Not Addressed
Reduced BBLS lender checks for 1.5 million loans increased taxpayer fraud risk
Conclusion
The BBLS was open for applications from 4 May 2020 to 31 March 2021, and in that time 1.5 million loans were issued, to a total value of £47.4 billion. The BBLS was designed to reduce the time taken to …
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Government Response Summary
The Department's responsibilities also include the ongoing management of the Bounce Back Loan Scheme, which was set up as part of a suite of measures to provide support to businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.
HM Treasury
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27
Conclusion
Most Covid loan scheme defaults attributed to company failure, not fraud
Conclusion
The Department told us, for context, that around £20 billion of the loans issued by lenders under its Covid loan guarantee schemes (which included the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme and the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme, as well …
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HM Treasury
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