Today’s 129-page report, called Banking Crisis: dealing with the failure of the UK banks, said banks had not acted quickly enough to free up funds for firms.
The committee, which is chaired by Labour MP John McFall, said: “We are very concerned about the availability and terms of credit to the small business sector.
“We regret the reports of sharp increases in bank charges and arrangement fees which can often be more damaging to business than higher interest rates.”
But it reserved most ire for the way banks have ridden roughshod over the needs of their customers. It said: “We deplore the behaviour of a number of those banks who have received so much public money and behaved in such an insensitive manner.”
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CECA director Rosemary Beales said: “We know that the schemes designed to get the banks lending are not working well enough.”
A survey by the group last month revealed that close to 50% of small and medium-size civils firms had experienced difficulty getting hold of financial support from their banks while 58% said their banking costs had risen.
