The Bank told us that it will closely evaluate its COVID-19 business support schemes, including assessing whether there were things it would need “to do differently” with the accreditation processes going forward and more specifically whether there could have been better engagement with regulators as part of the accreditation process. The Bank said that it would be a “fruitful theme” to have discussions with development banks that have also been delivering similar schemes through the pandemic. The Treasury also agreed that it would conduct evaluations of all of the schemes, so that it could draw conclusions and build on what it had learned for the next time there needed to be an “extraordinary state intervention to deal with some market failure or other problem”.81 As we have previously highlighted, it is important that these evaluations are carried out as soon as possible after the event, otherwise there is a risk that departments learn lessons too late and repeat the same mistakes.82 80 Qq 161–162 81 Qq 32, 161–163 82 Committee of Public Accounts, COVID-19: Support for children’s education, Third Report of Session 2021–22, HC 240, 20 May 2021; Committee of Public Accounts, Initial lessons from the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Thirteenth Report of the Session 2021–22, HC 175, 25 July 2021 20 Lessons from Greensill Capital: accreditation to business support schemes