Emergency lending to Scottish businesses falls short, UK data shows

* Scottish small firms get proportionally less than
pre-crisis

* Mid-sized firms in London offered bigger loans than
regions

* Finance minister Sunak says funds reaching 'every corner
of UK'

* Graphic: https://tmsnrt.rs/3gAzWHU

By Iain Withers and Sinead Cruise

LONDON, Aug 7 (Reuters) - A regional breakdown of emergency
loans to small firms in Britain during the coronavirus crisis
shows that Scotland and the South West of England have received
a smaller share of nationwide lending than they did prior to the
pandemic.

Mid-sized companies in London received bigger loans on
average than anywhere else in the UK, according to the data
released by the UK Treasury on Friday.

The Treasury published a regional breakdown of more than 40
billion pounds ($53 billion) of state-backed funds provided
under its 'bounce back' and 'coronavirus business interruption
loan scheme' (CBILS).

The emergency lending was supporting "jobs, incomes, and
businesses across every corner of the UK", finance minister
Rishi Sunak said in the Treasury's statement.

The Treasury had previously denied a freedom of information
request for the regional data by Reuters, saying protecting
banks' commercial information was in the public interest.

Businesses in Scotland were offered 6% of the total pot of
bounce back loans, compared to a 9% market share of small
business lending at the end of 2019 according to UK Finance
data.

The South West got 8% of the emergency funding, compared to
a 12% prior market share. The UK Finance data excluded Northern
Ireland, unlike the Treasury data.

Companies in London were offered higher value CBILS loans on
average compared to other regions, at 257,000 pounds.

The average sized loan for firms in the South West was
216,000 pounds, while the lowest was 214,000 pounds in the North
East.

Some regional business leaders have complained that London
gets favourable treatment, although the value of lending in the
capital under the schemes was broadly in line with its 2019
market share.

The data on emergency funding did not break down the number
of loan applications or rejections by region.

The Treasury said the proportion of emergency loans offered
- rather than their value - compared favourably with the
proportion of businesses in each region in 2019.

The ministry said the data lagged its weekly total lending
figures and reflected the value of loans offered, rather than
those approved.

Britain's biggest domestic bank Lloyds said on
Thursday it was working with business lobby group the
Confederation of British Industry on a report into how to
stimulate regional economic recovery.
($1 = 0.7600 pounds)
(Reporting by Iain Withers and Sinead Cruise; Editing by Susan
Fenton)