Freedom of Information

We routinely publish information on our website about what we do. If you can’t find the information you are interested in you can make a request using our freedom of information request form. For details about how we handle FOI and Environmental requests please read our FOI Standard and Procedure.

For information about how many FOI requests we have had and how we have dealt with them you can visit the FOI request statistics page. These figures are updated every quarter.

In this section:

Freedom of Information Responses

The following responses have been received by the bank. This page will be updated on a monthly basis.

Applications and Software

FOI 24-013

Reference FOI 24-013

Received: 08/05/2024

Responded: 04/07/2024

Request: Thank you for your response to my Foi request ref 24-004 today. You confirmed that British Business Bank (BBB) migrated to M365 in 2018.

I now request that you supply me with a copy of BBB most recent Microsoft Licensing Statement (MLS). I am not requesting this information to generate any business. We are not looking to buy, or, sell software licences as we are no longer trading. We only want to understand how the organisations Microsoft portfolio has evolved over the years.

We have reached out to almost every council/public authority in the country and have requested and received many MLS’s. Unless you already have the latest MLS, could you reach out to your IT reseller and obtain it. your reseller will have access to this. A reseller may say they do not have the MLS, but, resellers can source these from Microsoft. If Microsoft were ever to perform an audit, BBB would require an MLS for basic audit requirements. This document is something Microsoft can provide with a minimum of fuss.

Please send me the full MLS which will have the following tabs along the bottom, which, will be, in the form of an Excel document –

I believe that BBB has an obligation to source the information we have requested. Please see the information I have copied from the Information Commissioner’s Office website below.

(2) For the purposes of this Act, information is held by a public authority if—

(a) it is held by the authority, otherwise than on behalf of another person, or

(b) it is held by another person on behalf of the authority.

Furthermore, BBB has a legal right to call for/provide this under the terms of its contract with its software reseller and therefore this information is held by the reseller on behalf of BBB under s.3(2) FOIA. It is therefore subject to FOIA. This is well-established in a number of decisions of the Commissioner and the FTT, see for example Conscape Ltd v the Information Commissioner and the Department for Regional Development (Northern Ireland). Accordingly, the full, unredacted MLS is disclosable under FOIA.

Download our response (ODT, 192.73 KB)

Supplementary Documentation to FOI 24-013 FOI 22-055

Download correspondence (PDF, 205.18 KB)

FOI 24-010

FOI 24-006

FOI 24-004

FOI 24-003

Reference FOI 24-003

Received: 15/04/2024

Responded: 08/05/2024

Request: To the organisation’s Freedom of Information Officer,

This is an email to request information under the FOI Act.

I want to apologise in advance for the length of this request, the first part is just an outline of the request bellow (A-D) I have added this for clarification so you know exactly what I am referring to. Can you please read all the information within the request this is an urgent request so if you could please provide me with the information before the 20 working days this will be greatly appreciated.

You may have received the same request in the past and this information sent has now expired and I require an update as soon as possible for the following.

The information I require relates to the organisation’s software contract, please send me the organisation’s primary contract around the types of contracts below.

I require the organisations to provide me with the following contract information relating to the following corporate software/enterprise applications:

A. Enterprise Resource Planning Software Solution (ERP) -this is the organisation’s main

ERP system and may include service support, maintenance and upgrades.

B. Primary Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Solution-this is the organisation’s main

CRM system and may include service support, maintenance and upgrades. Example of CRM systems the organisation may use could include Microsoft Dynamics, Front Office, Lagan CRM, Firm step

C. Primary Human Resources (HR) and Payroll Software Solution-this is the organisation’s main

HR/payroll system and may include service support, maintenance and upgrades. In some cases, the HR contract maybe separate to the payroll contract please provide both types of contracts. Example of HR/Payroll systems the organisation may use could include iTrent, Resource link.

D. The organisation’s primary corporate Finance Software Solution-this is the organisation’s main

Finance system and may include service support, maintenance and upgrades. Example of finance systems the organisation may use could include E-Business suite, Agresso (Unit4), eFinancials, Integra, SAP

In some cases you may come across contracts that provides service support maintenance and upgrades separate to the main software contract, please also provide this information in the response following the requested data below.

For each of the categories above can you please provide me with the relevant contract information listed below:

Software Category: ERP, CRM, HR, Payroll, Finance
Name of Supplier: Can you please provide me with the software provider for each contract?
The brand of the software: Can you please provide me with the actual name of the software. Please do not provide me with the supplier name again please provide me with the actual software name.
Description of the contract: Please do not just state two to three words can you please provide me with detailed information about this contract and please state if upgrade, maintenance and support is included.

Please also include any modules included within the contract as this will support the categories you have selected in question 1.

Number of Users/Licenses: What is the total number of user/licenses for this contract?
Annual Spend: What is the annual average spend for each contract?
Contract Duration: What is the duration of the contract please include any available extensions within the contract.
Contract Start Date: What is the start date of this contract? Please include month and year of the contract. DD-MM-YY or MM-YY.
Contract Expiry: What is the expiry date of this contract? Please include month and year of the contract. DD-MM-YY or MM-YY.

10. Contract Review Date: What is the review date of this contract? Please include month and year of the contract. If this cannot be provided, please provide me estimates of when the contract is likely to be reviewed. DD-MM-YY or MM-YY.

11. Contact Details: I require the full contact details of the person within the organisation responsible for this particular software contract (name, job title, email, contact number).

If any of the information is not available, please can you provide me with the notes on the reasons why?

Regards

Download our response (.ODT, 181.12 KB)

Decision making and governance

FOI 24-051

FOI 24-046

FOI 24-034

FOI 24-022

FOI 24-014

FOI 24-011

What we spend and how we spend it

FOI 24-065

FOI 24-063

FOI 24-062

FOI 24-057

FOI 24-055

FOI 24-054

FOI 24-048

FOI 24-042

FOI 24-040

FOI 24-035

Reference FOI 24-035

Received: 03/09/2024

Responded: 17/09/2024

Request: I want to make a Freedom of Information request, could you please send me the following information with regards to the organisation’s Mobile Phones contract.

You may have received the same request in the past and this information sent has now expired and I require an update as soon as possible for the following information:

If there is more than one provider, please split all the information including the annual average spend, number of connections, duration, contract dates and internal contact details.

Network Provider(s) - Please provide me with the network provider name e.g., EE, Telefonica, Vodafone, Three
Annual Average Spend for each Network Provider - If this is a new contract, can you please provide the estimated annual spend.
Number of Connections- Number of connections for each network provider. (Number of voices only devices, voice and data devices, data only devices) please provide me with the breakdown and not the overall total.
Duration of the contract- please state if the contract also includes contract extensions for each provider.
Contract Start Date- please can you provide me with the start date of the signed agreement. Please do not provide me with the framework contract date I require the contract dates of the signed agreement. (if there are multiple start dates, could you please provide me with the earliest date for each provider)
Contract Expiry Date- please can you provide me with the expiry date of the signed agreement. Please do not provide me with the framework contract date. I require the contract dates of the signed agreement. If the contract is rolling, please state.
Contract Review Date- Please can you provide me with a date when the organisation plans to review this contract.
The person in the organisation responsible for this particular contract. Can you send me the full contact details Contact Name, Job Title, Contact Number and direct email address for each network provider? If full contact details cannot be provided, please send me their actual job title.
If the mobile phone contract is provided by a managed contract, please provide me with the actual name of the network provider along with the number of connections and the internal contact from within the organisation responsible for this contract.
10. Is this contract part of an aggregation exercise?

Please can you provide me with the latest information - If the organisations are currently out to tender, please can you also state the approx. date of the award along with the information above.

Also, if the contract in the response has expired/rolling please can you provide me with further information if available of the organisation's plans going forward with regards to mobiles and the contract status?

If this contract was awarded within the past three months, can you please provide me with a shortlist of suppliers that bid on the contract?

Download our response (ODT, 181.14 KB)

FOI 24-026

FOI 24-024

Reference FOI 24-024

Received: 27/06/2024

Responded: 19/07/2024

Request: I am writing to submit a Freedom of Information request for information related to the organisation's contracts register, procurement strategy document, and contact details. Please find the detailed requests below:

Contract Register Request:

I am seeking the full and entirety of the organisation's contract register or database. The register should include the following columns/headings or something similar:

Contract Reference -Unique reference number associated with the contract.
Contract Title
Procurement Category
Supplier Name
Spend (Total, Annual or contract value)
Contract Duration
Contract Extensions
Contract Start Date
Contract Expiry Date
Contract Description [Please provide me with as much detail as possible.]
Contact Owner (Person that manages the contract register)
Contact details of section 151 officer
CPV codes/Pro-Class
How many contracts are currently held on the contract register

If any of the headings within your contract register has not been provided, please state this within your response.

Please provide the contract's register file in Excel format.

2. Procurement Strategy Document Request:

Can the organisation provide a full version of their Procurement Strategy for the fiscal year 2024-2025?
If the Procurement Strategy is a strategic direction (2022-2025) instead of an annual plan, please provide an update document for 2023-2024. If an update cannot be provided, please provide information on when an update is planned to be published.
We require the full document. If any parts of this document have been removed, please state this within your response.

3. Contact Details Request:

Provide contact details of the person responsible for API or data sharing, including [Name, Job Title, Telephone, Email Address].
Provide contact details of the person responsible for the actual contract's register, including [Name, Job Title, Telephone, Email Address].

IMPORTANT:

If the organisation has a CRM system or a similar system, ensure there is a facility to download and extract contract data.
If providing a weblink to a portal, ensure that all contracts are included, as some organisations may only upload a small portion of their contracts.
For organisations planning to make an exemption around spend, clarify that the spend information requested is an overall figure, and a complete breakdown is not required.

Please provide the contract's register file in Excel format.

Download our response (ODT, 185.37 KB)

FOI 24-023

FOI 24-016

FOI 24-008

FOI 24-007

Reference FOI 24-007

Received: 17/04/2024

Responded: 09/05/2024

Request: I want to make a Freedom of Information request, could you please send me the following information with regards to the organisation’s Mobile Phones contract.

You may have received the same request in the past and this information sent has now expired and I require an update as soon as possible for the following information:

If there is more than one provider, please split all the information including the annual average spend, number of connections, duration, contract dates and internal contact details.

Network Provider(s) - Please provide me with the network provider name e.g., EE, Telefonica, Vodafone, Three
Annual Average Spend for each Network Provider - If this is a new contract, can you please provide the estimated annual spend.
Number of Connections- Number of connections for each network provider. (Number of voices only devices, voice and data devices, data only devices) please provide me with the breakdown and not the overall total.
Duration of the contract- please state if the contract also includes contract extensions for each provider.
Contract Start Date- please can you provide me with the start date of the signed agreement. Please do not provide me with the framework contract date I require the contract dates of the signed agreement. (if there are multiple start dates, could you please provide me with the earliest date for each provider)
Contract Expiry Date- please can you provide me with the expiry date of the signed agreement. Please do not provide me with the framework contract date. I require the contract dates of the signed agreement. If the contract is rolling, please state.
Contract Review Date- Please can you provide me with a date when the organisation plans to review this contract.
The person in the organisation responsible for this particular contract. Can you send me the full contact details Contact Name, Job Title, Contact Number and direct email address for each network provider? If full contact details cannot be provided, please send me their actual job title.

9.If the mobile phone contract is provided by a managed contract, please provide me with the actual name of the network provider along with the number of connections and the internal contact from within the organisation responsible for this contract.

Please can you provide me with the latest information- If the organisations are currently out to tender, please can you also state the approx. date of the award along with the information above.

If this contract was awarded within the past three months, can you please provide me with a shortlist of suppliers that bid on the contract?

Download our response (.ODT, 181 KB)

FOI 24-002

Our products and programmes

FOI 24-073

FOI 24-067

FOI 24-065

FOI 24-058

Reference FOI 24-058

Received: 30/12/2024

Response: 26/02/2025

Request:

Contracts, Agreements & Policy Documents
- Any template or standard form agreements executed between the British Business Bank (or its subsidiaries/agents) and Barclays Bank UK PLC under the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (“BBLS”).
- Any amendments, variations, or side agreements relating to the assignment of rights back to Barclays once the government guarantee has been called upon.
Self-Certification Process for BBL Guarantee Claims
- All guidelines, policy manuals, or training documents describing the process by which participating lenders (including Barclays) self-certify when making a claim on the BBLS guarantee, including but not limited to:
  1. How lenders verify or confirm a borrower’s default.
  2. What factual or evidential thresholds must be met.
  3. Any safeguards intended to prevent “double recovery” if a lender subsequently pursues the borrower.
Any correspondence, guidance, or directives issued to Barclays detailing what data, documentation, or statements it must submit as part of self-certification.
Specific Self-Certification by Barclays in Our Case
- Any information in the British Business Bank’s records specifically referencing MC Property Management Group Ltd (Company No. 10641828) or its BBL with Barclays, including:
  1. The date(s) Barclays sought to claim on the BBL guarantee for our account.
  2. Copies of any self-certification or declarations made by Barclays in respect of our alleged “default.”
  3. Details of any review by the British Business Bank (or relevant department) as to the validity or basis of Barclays’ self-certification in this instance.
Guidance or Correspondence on Double Recoveries
- Internal and external communications (that can be disclosed under FOIA) explaining under what conditions a lender is permitted to pursue a borrower for an outstanding debt after it has already received indemnification under the BBL guarantee.
- Any guidance on reconciling or avoiding double recovery once the guarantee is paid.
Statistical or Analytical Data (if within FOI scope)
- The number of times since January 2023 that Barclays (or any BBL-participating lender) has:
  Called upon the BBL guarantee,
1. Later pursued the same borrower for the same sum (including any Statutory Demand or winding-up petitions),
2. Provided reasons for default including “ineligibility,” “strike-off,” or “misuse” allegations.
Any Other Relevant Documents
- Any additional documentation or records referencing MC Property Management Group Ltd and its BBL account, so far as can be lawfully disclosed under FOIA

Download our response (.ODT, 248.44 KB)

Supplementary Documentation to FOI 24-058

FOI 24-056

FOI 24-053

FOI 24-052

Reference FOI 24-052

Received: 02/12/2024

Response: 31/01/2025

Request: In line with the British Business Bank’s policy of correcting geographic, female and ethnic minority founders’ funding disparities, the information on start up loans shared in its Annual Report and Accounts 2024 (“the report”) is heavily ethnic-geo-gender centric but extremely limited.

The report details 9,776 start up loans were awarded in 2023 with 40% going to females and 21% to ethnic minority founders. However no information regarding all loan approvals is provided. Neither is such vital information as the number of loan applications, applicant withdrawal rates, loan rejection rates and/ or the geo-locations of the ethnic-gender loan applicants/ recipients shared.

Even the provided information is ambiguous e.g. it cannot be ascertained where start up loans were geographically awarded except not in London, nor the percentage of female versus male ethnic founders awarded loans.

Given these gaps in the report and the BBB’s Start Up Loans programme has already cost taxpayers £1.12bn to-date, please provide the basic 2023 start up loan and protected characteristics information requested below.

The information is to be shared in an Excel file and a format suitable for statistical analysis and reporting, i.e. start up loan metrics cross-referenced against the protected characteristics of applicants/ recipients.

Start Up Loan Metrics for 2023

Loan applications
Loan approvals
Avg. application duration in days
Avg. credit score
Avg. credit checks during application
Avg. Debt to Income Ratio
Application withdrawals
£ total loan value awarded

Applicants' protected characteristics for 2023:

Gender reassignment
Ethnic minorities (2,053)
Ethnic minorities females
Ethnic minorities males
White females
White males
Totals (9,776)

For the avoidance of confusion, creating unnecessary work for BBB staff and delays answering the FOI request, the FOI request is for 2023 only and the metrics are defined as:

Loan applications - number of applications submitted for a start up loan.
Loan approvals - number of applications awarded a start up loan.
Avg. application duration in days - the average number of days taken to process start up loan applications from the applicants.
Avg. credit score - the average credit score obtained when checking the credit ratings of the applicants.
Avg. credit checks during application - the average number of credit score checks performed against the applicants during the applications.
Avg. debt to income ratio - the average proportion of the monthly debt payments to incomes for the applicants.
Application withdrawals - the number of applications for a start up loan withdrawn by the applicants.
£ total loan value awarded - the total monetary value of start up loans awarded to the applicants.

Obviously, shared information must be completely anonymised for personal privacy protection and data protection.

Download our response (.ODT, 186.71 KB)

Supplementary Documentation to FOI 24-052

Start Up Loans application data (.XLSX, 46.98 KB)

FOI 24-050

FOI 24-049

Reference FOI 24-049

Received: 21/11/2024

Response: 02/12/2024

Request: I wish to submit to the organisation a freedom of information request relating to the organisation’s ICT contracts, specifically around:

contact centre contract(s)
inbound network services contract (s)

The first part of my request relates to contact centre service contracts which could relate to one of the following:

Advanced call distribution to control the flow of calls and maximise customer experience
Email, website live chat and integrations with popular social media apps like Facebook and Instagram
Performance monitoring tools to track performance, customer satisfaction and other key sales metrics

This could be part of a whole package or separate service applications.

Please send me the following information for each provider:

Incumbent Supplier: For each of the contract(s) please can you provide me with the supplier of the contract.
Annual Average Spend: For each supplier, please state the annual average (over 3 years) spend for each supplier
Contract Duration: For each supplier, please state the contract duration of the contract expires. If available please also include any contract extensions.
Contract Expiry: For each supplier, please state the date of when the contract expires.
Contract Review: For each supplier, please state the date of when the contract will be reviewed.
Contract Description: For each supplier, please state a brief description of the services provided of the overall contract.
Contact Details: For each supplier, please state the person from within the organisation responsible for the contract. Please provide me with their full name, actual job title, contact number and direct email address. At the very least please provide me with their actual job title.
Number of Agents; please provide me with the total number of contact centre agents;
Number of Sites; please can you provide me with the number of sites the contact centre covers.
Manufacturer of the contact centre: Who is the manufacturer of the contact centre system that you operate?
Do you use Microsoft Exchange 2003 as your email server? If not, then which products do you use?
Number of email users: Approximate number of email users across the organisations.

The second part of my request relates to the use inbound network services contracts which could relate to one of the following:

0800, 0845, 0870, 0844, 0300 number
Routing of calls
Caller Identifier
Caller Profile- linking caller details with caller records
Interactive voice response (IVR)

For a contract relating to the above please can you provide me with?

Incumbent Supplier: For each of the contract(s) please can you provide me with the supplier of the contract.
Annual Average Spend: For each supplier, please state the annual average (over 3 years) spend for each supplier
Contract Expiry: For each supplier, please state the date of when the contract expires.
Contract Review: For each supplier, please state the date of when the contract will be reviewed.
Contract Description: For each supplier, please state a brief description of the services provided of the overall contract.
Contact Details: For each supplier, please state the person from within the organisation responsible for the contract. Please provide me with their full name, actual job title, contact number and direct email address.

Download our response (.ODT, 184.63 KB)

FOI 24-047

FOI 24-045

FOI 24-044

FOI 24-043

FOI 24-041

FOI 24-039

FOI 24-038

FOI 24-037

FOI 24-036

FOI 24-033

Reference FOI 24-033

Received: 22/08/2024

Response: 27/09/2024

Request:

Specifically, I request the following information:

Due Diligence Process:
Please provide information regarding the due diligence process undertaken by the British Business Bank before awarding the distribution contract to The FSE Group. What Pre-checks were conducted before awarding the contract to FSE? Did you have any information regarding their past performance for a similar contract? Have they handled a similar piece of work before?
Contract Awarding Process:
Please clarify the process used to award the contract to The FSE Group. What criteria were used to assess the potential candidates, and what were the specific requirements that The FSE Group met to be selected? Are we able to see their submissions and the initial tender.
Audits and Oversight:
When was the last time The FSE Group was audited in relation to their management of the Investment Fund for Scotland? What oversight mechanisms are in place to monitor the ongoing management of the fund by The FSE Group?
Can we see the evidence of this, the outcomes and any minutes?
Public Sector Equality Duty Compliance:
How has the British Business Bank ensured that the Public Sector Equality Duty has been upheld in both the award of the contract and the management of public funds through this initiative?
Diversity and Equality Statistics:
What is the gender diversity split (proportion of women owned business to male) in the awarding of funds under the Investment Fund for Scotland? We would also like to see this figure in financial terms, for example, how much money has gone to female owned businesses, mixed gender teams and male teams?
Does the British Business Bank or FSE commit to having a diverse panel when awarding funds for this contract?
Financial Information:
How much has The FSE Group been awarded to deliver the funds under the Investment Fund for Scotland?
Equity Funding Requirements:
What is the criteria for assessing businesses for the award of Investment Fund for Scotland funds.
Reward Criteria:
What are the specific reward criteria that were set for applicants under the Investment Fund for Scotland? How does the British Business Bank define "strong UK market," "Unique Selling Proposition (USP)," and "growth potential," particularly in cases where applications were rejected based on these criteria? After looking at an award given to another company, we are looking for clarity on the above points.
Success Rates:
How many applicants have been successful in receiving funding through the Investment Fund for Scotland? Specifically the debt fund being managed by FSE Group.
Alignment with the Equality Act:
How does the British Business Bank ensure that the processes and decisions made in relation to the Investment Fund for Scotland align with the Equality Act 2010?
Fund Management:
What processes are in place to manage the performance and actions of fund managers, such as The FSE Group, in the distribution and allocation of funds?

We believe that the reliance on equity funding as a primary criterion for awarding funds constitutes direct discrimination, particularly in light of the significant gender disparity in the equity funding market.

Evidence suggests that female-led businesses receive a disproportionately lower share of equity funding compared to their male counterparts. By emphasizing equity funding, the current process may inadvertently perpetuate this imbalance, resulting in unequal access to financial support for women entrepreneurs. This practice undermines the principles of equality and fairness that should guide the distribution of public funds

Download our response (ODT, 195.61 KB)

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Freedom of Information

In this section:

Freedom of Information Responses

Applications and Software

Reference FOI 24-013

Supplementary Documentation to FOI 24-013 FOI 22-055

Reference FOI 24-010

Reference FOI 24-006

Reference FOI 24-004

Reference FOI 24-003

Decision making and governance

Reference FOI 24-051

Reference FOI 24-046

Supplementary Documentation to FOI 24-046

Reference FOI 24-034

Supplementary Documentation to FOI 24-034

Reference FOI 24-022

Reference FOI 24-014

Supplementary Documentation to FOI 24-014 FOI 22-055

Reference FOI 24-011

What we spend and how we spend it

Reference FOI 24-065

Reference FOI 24-063

Supplementary Documentation to FOI 24-063

Reference FOI 24-062

Reference FOI 24-057

Reference FOI 24-055

Reference FOI 24-054

Reference FOI 24-048

Reference FOI 24-042

Reference FOI 24-040

Reference FOI 24-035

Reference FOI 24-026

Supplementary Documentation to FOI 24-026

Reference FOI 24-024

Reference FOI 24-023

Reference FOI 24-016

Reference FOI 24-008

Reference FOI 24-007

Reference FOI 24-002

Our products and programmes

Reference FOI 24-073

Reference FOI 24-067

Reference FOI 24-065

Reference FOI 24-058

Supplementary Documentation to FOI 24-058

Reference FOI 24-056

Reference FOI 24-053

Supplementary Documentation to FOI 24-053

Reference FOI 24-052

Supplementary Documentation to FOI 24-052

Reference FOI 24-050

Supplementary Documentation to FOI 24-050

Reference FOI 24-049

Reference FOI 24-047

Reference FOI 24-045

Supplementary Documentation to FOI 24-045

Reference FOI 24-044

Reference FOI 24-043

Reference FOI 24-041

Supplementary Documentation to FOI 24-041

Reference FOI 24-039