The Department’s lack of curiosity surrounding lenders’ performance in the Bounce Back Loan Scheme increases the risk of losses for the taxpayer. The Bounce Back Loan Scheme was set up quickly, with limited requirements for what data lenders should collect and how it should be shared with government. In line with initial agreements, lenders followed their ‘business as usual’ procedures for monitoring, chasing payment, and identifying fraud for government backed loans. This resulted in borrowers being at risk of being treated differently, and variations in the level of risk to the taxpayer. Lenders self-report on performance within the British Business Bank’s lender portal. Data is not, therefore, comparable between banks, and variations in lender performance are not well understood by the Department. The Department, and British Business Bank, have continued to build relationships with lenders, and obtained further information in excess of that agreed at the outset, to assist with fraud prevention and monitoring of performance. Although we understand that lenders have provided all data requested, lenders hold further information that might be helpful. For example, on the underlying credit risk of the loan books, comparing performance on government backed, and non- government backed loans. 6 Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy Annual Report and Accounts 2021–22 Recommendation 2: • The Department should set out what more it will do to identify the reasons for variances in scheme performance and encourage all lenders to reach an optimal level of performance. This is likely to include establishing the full extent of information held by lenders. • The Department should make data collection and sharing explicit within initial agreements when setting up future lending schemes.