THE CREDIT Review Office has hit back at a survey by small business group Isme, which suggested that 64 per cent of small firms say banks are making it more difficult for them to access credit.

In a statement issued by the Department of Finance, John Trethowan, who heads the review office, said Isme’s survey “appears to have a number of design flaws and in particular is missing some essential qualifying questions to produce a statistically valid outcome”.

Isme said 58 per cent of companies who made an application to their banks in the last three months were refused credit. Chief executive Mark Fielding said the results of its survey “make an absolute joke of the claims of the bankers representatives and their cheerleaders in the Credit Review Office that bank lending is readily accessible but the demand for SME credit is reduced”.

In response, Mr Trethowan said the survey lacked a control sample population, reporting only the responses of those who replied to the questionnaire, which “heavily skews the findings to the negative”. He said the survey failed to give details of the viability of the individual responding businesses. His office was “very disappointed by the lack of support it receives from Isme” and was unhappy with ongoing comments by Isme that seem to undermine his office.