Speeches by Olney.

“Are you suggesting that there should not be open-ended ministerial direction? There should be a defined end to a ministerial direction issued in a time of crisis.”

“That is very good to hear. Thank you.”

“Beth, you were leading me to my next question: do you think that, as a result of the recommendations, the Government are now better prepared and in a better position to manage or minimise fraud losses in future crises?”

“Only if you would like me to. I do not want to re-ask the same question, given that we are pushed for time.”

“Reading your report was a slightly unusual experience: someone had something nice to say about HMRC. That is not a common experience for us on the Committee, or as constituency MPs.”

“Are companies taking other steps to avoid repayment? Some are obviously being blocked from dissolving, but for the ones that are still trading but not making repayments, are there other ways around repayment that they are exploiting? Are there any loopholes?”

“Steven, for the companies that receive bounce back loans, as much as 48% of the loans will not be repaid, according to the report, and a lot of that is due to companies winding up before repayment is due. What progress has the Department made in recovering moneys where businesses have been wound up?”

“The counter-fraud commissioner said in his report that MHCLG could not provide him with assurance on levels of fraud and error in its covid-19 spending. Has the Department been able to address that in the time since?”

“What is the plan for the ones you have blocked from dissolving that cannot pay back?”

“I also want to ask about recommendation 3(c): the Treasury “should amend Managing Public Money to require Accounting Officers who have sought a Ministerial Direction regarding fraud risk to provide an update…to their minister.” Do you want to say a little more about that?”

“Chris, to what extent did delivering schemes to local authorities and lenders limit the ability of local government to prevent fraud and recover it?”

“Mr Cheeseman, what specific actions can Departments take to increase the amount they are recovering?”

“I had not prepared to ask this question. It is basically around capability, capacity and local government, and the existing mechanisms that there were to tackle fraud and implement counter-fraud measures. Given the scale of what was required during covid, do you think that local government may have struggled to cope wi…”

“Mark, would you agree with that assessment, or do you think there is more that the Government still need to be doing?”

“You mentioned that there were no personal guarantees originally. Do you have any powers to change that? Where you have companies that do not have any assets and cannot repay your loan, but the individuals involved do, are you able to—”

“Let me come back to your earlier point about the small company reporting regime. The Government only partially accepted your recommendation, on the basis that Companies House accounts reforms will improve transparency and data reliability. Could you expand a little on what you were saying earlier about why you think th…”

“Steven, a lot of the bounce back loans and other loans available to businesses were driven through lenders—banks and so on. Were the counter-fraud measures required by the Department sufficient for the loans being delivered in that way?”

“Tom, I said earlier I would come back to the recommendations at the end of your report. What do you think is the most important recommendation, which you really want the different Government Departments to take on board?”

“Joining the single market and a customs union could boost UK GDP by about £25 billion a year. Single market membership would give the UK access to EU defence programmes, creating high-skilled jobs in aerospace, advanced manufacturing and defence technology. It would restore passporting rights for financial services, re…”

“Research by the British Retail Consortium found that over two thirds of part-time workers in the retail sector took the role because they needed flexibility around educational and caring commitments. The number of young people not in employment, education or training is over 1 million. Liberal Democrats repeatedly warn…”