Oral question asked in the House of Commons, by Lord Bruce of Bennachie (Liberal Democrat). It was answered on Tuesday, 16 March 2010 on behalf of the Treasury.

Government Holdings

Question: Given that the Government have reduced competition among high street banks, does the Minister not recognise that many small and medium-sized businesses will be frustrated by an economic recovery, because they will be unable to access finance on the terms that they need for expansion and recovery? Is it not the Government's responsibility to ensure that they can do that, so will he do something about it rather than being passive on the sidelines?

Answer: We are certainly not being passive on the sidelines. As the House is well aware, the Government have negotiated binding commitments with RBS and Lloyds Banking Group on lending to businesses, as well as mortgage lending. We have taken further actions to help small, growing companies, through the enterprise finance guarantee, which has been a big success in lending to small businesses, and through intermediate lending by the European Investment Bank. We have also seen EIB loans at cheap rates to help companies through the recovery, which is what we all want to see.

Secondary information