Memorandum submitted by Baroness Vadera
Thank you for your letter of 25 February to
Peter Mandelson about the availability of Enterprise Finance Guarantee
Scheme (EFG) in Northern Ireland. I am replying as this matter
falls within my portfolio and apologise for the lengthy delay.
I have asked the Permanent Secretary to look into the reasons
for the delay to ensure it does not recur.
To answer your constituent's question, the following
banks with branches in NI offer EFG: Barclays Bank, HSBC, Bank
of Ireland, Northern Bank and Ulster Bank. EFG is available throughout
the UK. In total 26 lenders are already participating in the scheme,
including all the main high street lenders.
Since the Guarantee became operational on 14
January we have seen the value of eligible cases rise 10-fold.
These have now reached the stage where as of 29 April lenders
have logged almost 2,900 eligible cases with a value of over £325
million. Our current weekly rate of eligible cases puts us on
track to support £1.3 billion of lending to small businesses
by end March 2010.
It is important to note that the delivery of
the EFG, including the decision on whether or not it is appropriate
to use it in connection with any specific lending transaction,
is fully delegated to the participating lenders. There is no automatic
entitlement to receive a guaranteed loan and nor is there any
pre-qualification process for it.
Businesses in Northern Ireland that have been
unable to secure funding from the bank under the EFG Scheme may
be eligible for a loan or other support from Invest NI who can
advise on what additional finance help is available via 028 9023
9090
I am copying this letter to Mark Durkan.
6 May 2009
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