ACCA welcomes the opportunity to respond to the Bank Referral Scheme: Consultation and call for evidence, issued by HM Treasury. ACCA takes a strong interest in business practices, including the businesses our members work in and those they support through practice-based work. ACCA supports the proposal to expand the scope of designated lenders, with suitable safeguards, to reflect the changes in the lending market in recent years (as highlighted in the consultation and in data from the British Business Bank), to reduce reliance on ‘traditional’ sources of lending and to allow businesses to access the most appropriate form of finance.

However, we would favour a broader solution to ensure that businesses are ‘finance ready’. This might include information in a business support ‘hub’ service to better prepare small businesses to access the most appropriate form of finance. Regarding access to the most appropriate form of finance, that might be provided via the British Business Bank support webpages.

ACCA continues to advocate for improvements to ensure SMEs can access the finance they need to develop and grow. This includes ensuring that SMEs are better prepared to access funding, including ensuring that companies’ financial records and credit ratings are in order. It is important that businesses are aware of the indicative timescales for successfully achieving funding; likewise, that they can access the type of finance for their needs. We recognise that accountants can play a key role in supporting their businesses and clients in these areas.

Alongside access to the full range and mix of finance products, attention needs to be paid to ensure that certain sectors are not seen to be excluded from the process for accessing finance. There is a need to ensure that transparency is maintained. Central to this is designated lenders providing clarity of all finance options they offer, including on interest rates and all charges.

New lease accounting treatments in FRS102 which become mandatory for accounting periods from on or after 1 January 2026 might have an impact on small business lending, on existing covenants in place and on lending decisions where automatic lending requirements are applied – as additional assets and liabilities will be brought onto companies’ balance sheets as a result of the new lease accounting treatments. Where change or transition occurs, lenders should indicate that have included this within their automatic decision making to provide clarity to SMEs and their advisers.

ACCA makes the following suggestions:

• The government should continue its focus on ‘thinking small first’ with an emphasis on improving service levels for all SMEs and their interaction with government. We welcome the current consultation by The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) and HM Treasury on reducing administrative burdens of regulation on business.
• Greater consistency is needed for timeframes associated with opening business accounts and where possible, more consistency in the requirements from lenders to reduce the administrative burden for SMEs.
• Improved sharing of data can bring efficiencies to the access to finance landscape for SMEs There should be research on the viability for AML-supervised firms to share greater information, along with more dedicated support from banks for SMEs. ACCA has concerns about the proposed changes to the AML regulation of professional services firms in the UK.
• Adoption of Open Banking can save SMEs time and open a host of financing options. However, we have concerns around SMEs not being in control of the data shared and prefer a uniform approach to data collection by lenders. We welcome the government’s programme of action to drive financial inclusion and encourage government to address the barriers that might be holding back wider uptake.
• ACCA sees value in funders regularly publishing statistics that shed light on the proportion of applications approved, agreed-in-full, partially agreed, and/or rejected. We believe that the release of such information can help enhance transparency.

In addition to these, specific access to finance points to consider include:

• Government should maintain its focus on strengthening the late payment landscape. We reiterate our support for measures that bolster supply chain reporting, maximising information available to small firms, and enhancing the role of the Small Business Commissioner.
• ACCA commends the work of the British Business Bank, and we welcome the new five-year strategy to mobilise more capital, embrace risk, back scale-ups, expand direct investments, spread opportunity nationwide, and modernise its operations. The government should also continue with work to provide more cost-effective insurance for SME exporters, focusing on initiatives that facilitate building market capacity, such as increasing use of pooled arrangements.

To read the response in full, please download the consultation document found on this page.