To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment the Government has made of the likely effect on small businesses of the collapse of Kaupthing Singer and Friedlander Limited. (227629)

[holding answer 16 October 2008]: The Government have put in place arrangements to ensure that all FSCS-eligible depositors in the Icelandic banks of Kaupthing Singer and Friedlander will receive their money in full. If a small business is eligible to claim compensation from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, it will be entitled to benefit from these arrangements. Those depositors that are ineligible for FSCS compensation will be creditors of the bank in the normal way.