To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the number of bank closures in the past decade and the impact on people in rural communities.
My Lords, I thank all noble Lords who are taking part in this short debate and look forward to listening to each of the contributions that they will bring. While this debate has its focus on diverse rural communities, I know that the issue before us is not solely rural.
Last month, Lloyds Banking Group announced that it will be close 136 bank branches across the country. The Tyne valley in Northumberland will see another three branches close their doors—two in Hexham and one in Prudhoe—meaning that customers in Hexham will need to travel over 15 miles to Consett to visit their nearest Lloyds branch.
Lloyds’ announcement comes after a decade of decline in the number of high street banks. Figures from Which? show that 6,266 bank branches have closed across the UK over the past 10 years, representing 63% of branches open at the start of 2015. If bank branches continue closing at such a rate, we face living in a society where those unable to bank digitally are financially excluded.
However, it is not the closure of banks that is at the heart of this issue; it is the stripping away of essential services without adequate alternative provision. With the number of customer transactions at the Lloyds branch in Prudhoe having almost halved in the last five years, its closure is understandable. Online banking is indeed far more convenient for many, but where does that leave those who rely on the services that in-person banking provides, those living in rural areas whose broadband is unreliable, those who struggle to understand online systems and fear the risk of fraud, those on low incomes who rely on cash to manage their budget, and those in need of advice to set up a mortgage or business for whom a phone call cannot compare?
While the rise of online banking has increased the ease of managing money for many, the support that face-to-face services provide continues to be vital, especially to some of the most vulnerable people. An Age UK survey reveals that the use of online banking is as low as 14% among the 85-plus age group. A complete transition to digital banking risks financially excluding many older people, making it harder for them to manage their money and fully participate in society.
The closure of banks also reflects the wider issue of declining high street services. We should not underestimate the contribution of such services to fostering a sense of connection in diverse communities—this is not, as I said, solely an issue of rurality—in the context of a culture with increasing isolation and loneliness.
Access to cash also remains essential, with 5 million people continuing to use it every day. The closure of local banks puts pressure on small rural businesses, some of which experience a lower footfall because of less access to cash in their area. Many owners are forced to travel further distances to deposit cash and carry out their banking, leading to reduced opening hours. There are also those with special needs, for whom using banking apps is not an option.
My Lords, the right reverend Prelate deserves our congratulations and thanks for raising this topic, which is crucial to the strength of communities throughout the country and therefore to the country itself. She is not only reverend, she is right.
I declare my interest as a member of the Horizon compensation advisory board. The relevance of that, which will come as no surprise to your Lordships, is that I want to talk about the Post Office.
I believe in the Post Office. Despite all it has done, despite the mayhem and trauma that it has inflicted on sub-postmasters throughout the country and despite the appalling scandal of the Horizon saga, the Post Office is essential to communities up and down the country. I will go so far as to say that I love the Post Office—not because of its management, obviously, nor because of its structure or behaviour, but because of the relationships that sub-postmasters have with their communities. It was those relationships that made the Post Office brand the most trusted brand in the country. Sub-postmasters know their communities: they help pensioners with any issues they might have, they keep an eye out for people who have not been around recently and who therefore might need help, and they hold the community together. They lead the community. That is one of the reasons it was so disgraceful of the Post Office management to use and abuse that most trusted brand in the country to prosecute and persecute the people who had generated that trust.
This debate, for which I again thank the right reverend Prelate, gives me an opportunity to say that the Post Office may form the basis of a wide-ranging solution to the problems that she rightly sets out. The UK’s banking network has worse than halved since 2015. The LINK network says that there are about 3,000 bank branches left. The Minister for Small Businesses, speaking in another place last week, said that we are below 5,000. Either way, it is not enough.
My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow my noble friend Lord Arbuthnot and to have the opportunity to congratulate him again on being recognised as Parliamentarian of the Year for all the work that he did to represent the postmistresses and postmasters through that terrible period: one of the darkest periods in this country’s legal history.
I also congratulate and thank the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Newcastle for securing such an important debate. I declare my technology and financial services interests, not least as adviser to Ecospend and Trustly.
I will concentrate on connectivity, cash and community. Connectivity is the essence of being human: how we relate and how we connect with one another in real time, in the physical world. With bank branches retreating from our high streets, gaining financial services is becoming vanishingly impossible in the real world.
So, what is the solution for people who want to do their daily banking, not just for individuals but for micro and small businesses as well? The stats tell us that, whichever one chooses, you can be, in a certain percentage, a mile or three miles away from your nearest branch. But when one looks at other elements of connectivity, that is as good as being 300 miles away if you cannot get there.
I, too, will focus on the key role I believe the Post Office can play to bring forward solutions in this space. It is a brand that has been in our communities and our society for over half a millennium. There has to be a future for such a brand to deliver on the financial, digital inclusion and community cohesion challenges to connectivity.
What happens if people find themselves without a banking branch or easy access to a post office? We are told, “You can go online”. But what if you cannot? It might not be accessible or, indeed, you may not want to—and there are many reasons for that, not least the fact that we are in the midst of a fraud epidemic. The three largest economies on planet earth are, first, the United States of America, secondly, China, and thirdly, economic crime and fraud. Can the Minister say whether the Government understand why people may not choose to go online? What are they doing further to help people online and in particular, when they are in that online world, with something as personal and serious as finance?
My Lords, I join in the thanks to the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Newcastle for obtaining this debate. It may be a short debate but, as others have said, it is an exceedingly important one. If it was not the last debate before recess, there would probably be a much bigger attendance but the range of comments would be very much the same. This is an area where the House has tended to be of one voice in its general concerns. That has not always penetrated through to the regulators or the banking community.
The right reverend Prelate described very accurately that the whole banking landscape has changed beyond recognition in the last five years. I accept the number of about 3,000 branches remaining open in the UK. More of them are closing on almost a daily basis. That is compared with about 10,000 10 years ago and over 20,000 in the late 1980s.
We can all accept that the rapid transition to digital banking and a broadly cashless way of life suits a lot of people. However, there are an increasing number of people and communities—especially people with disabilities, older people and particularly people in rural areas—who are being left behind because their basic banking needs are barely being met by the system as it is today. Rural Northern Ireland is an extreme example of an area of concern. Some areas of the UK can now very accurately be described as “banking deserts”, with long trips to physical branches and often not even a reasonable bus route for someone who does not have a car.
The FCA has produced new guidance on bank closures: it is very cash-focused. Is the Minister able to comment on whether she thinks it is adequate? Can she tell us whether sanctions have been applied to banks which seek to evade the intent of that guidance?
It is not just individuals who are affected. As other speakers have said, many small businesses, especially independent shops, have been very adversely impacted, and bank closures have added to that growing sense of desolation in many high streets. Surveys show that many customers feel they are being forced into a new way of banking which they find far less convenient and secure. In addition, customers whose local branch has been shut down not only are travelling long distances if they want to talk to someone about their money but feel that that whole closure process is happening without proper engagement with them, and certainly without the consent of many vulnerable groups and communities. It has simply been done to them and they feel powerless. It would be naive not to recognise that the banks are saving some £2.5 billion annually with these changes, so they are very motivated to close bank branches and move away from providing that face-to-face activity. Some 5 million people still look on cash as a necessity, and 5% have no bank account.
My Lords, I declare my recent directorship of the Co-operative Bank, which has tried hard to maintain a good branch network, notwithstanding the widespread closures of bank branches all over the country for the past 30 years. I commend the right reverend Prelate for raising this important issue for rural communities—perhaps also for Newcastle, the north-east and the whole country. The Church plays an important role for the vulnerable and perhaps for all society, but banks do too, in the sense that financial services are a mirror to society.
Banks and regulators have a tendency to conflate this issue with access to cash—the distance to the nearest cash machine, say, although hopefully not by swimming, as the noble Baroness pointed out. Banks like to say that technology changes have created a demand for online services and a reduction in the use of branches. In this, banks are conveniently in line with regulators, which focus on cash machines. The FCA last year wrote to the banks with guidelines on cash services, despite efforts made in Parliament during the passage of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 to protect counter services.
But people like bank branches because they need help. They may need help with fraud. A young person might need help finding out how to get a mortgage. Someone recently married might ask about opening a joint account. They might have questions about children or divorce. They might ask about getting a power of attorney for a parent, or about death. In this way, bank branches become part of the life cycle of people and a community, much as retailers do. When they close, that help and that connection inevitably fragment to social media and elsewhere.
Alas, the number of bank branches has fallen everywhere—down to 5,500 or so in 2023 and probably closer to 3,000 today, as we have heard. This has been an unintended consequence of financial regulation over many years. It started with the FSA and FCA regulations about giving financial advice, which had the consequence of banks ceasing to provide financial advice. This is a good example of well-intentioned but naive regulation to improve consumer protection leading to consumers getting no help at all.
My Lords, I thank the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Newcastle for this very timely debate. I reassure her on behalf of all of us that the number taking part is no reflection of the significance of the debate: rather, it is a reflection of the time of day in the run-up to the recess. I thank other noble Lords for their significant contributions to the debate. By way of context, I will say that I live in a small market town and have witnessed the decimation of the number of branches. We are left with one building society branch, although a community hub has opened—so I have personal experience of the issues that have been raised.
There is an important thread running through all of this. We are of course talking about the rural economy and how it is going to survive, but the comments today have been mostly around communities, vulnerability and making sure that we are inclusive in all the work we have done. We have heard the statistics of the rapid closures today. I do not need to repeat them, but I emphasise the comments of the right reverend Prelate around her concerns at the speed with which this is happening.
We must acknowledge the change in banking in recent years. Again, I know from experience the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, my family making sure that I got my act together and got fully included so that they did not have to worry. We must acknowledge that this has opened up a whole new tranche for people and many have benefited from the digital innovations. In 2017, 40% of UK adults regularly used a bank branch. By 2022, only 21% of UK adults still did. Almost 9 in 10 adults banked online or used a mobile app, including 65% of over-75s.
I emphasise that it is this Government’s ambition to ensure that all consumers can benefit from digital services. That is why, in the 2024 Autumn Budget, the Government announced funding of over £500 million next year to deliver digital infrastructure upgrades through Project Gigabit and the shared rural network. None the less, I assure noble Lords that the Government understand the importance of face-to-face banking to communities across the UK and continue to take action to realise the full economic potential of rural businesses and communities—picking up on the points that made by the noble Baroness, Lady Kramer.
I welcome the new duty that the Financial Conduct Authority has placed on banks to assess the impact that the closure of a branch will have on access to cash in the area and to ensure that adequate services are implemented ahead of closure. However, cash assessments address only part of the issue. Those regulations do not protect vital face-to-face services that people rely on. The assessment of cash access in Prudhoe completed by LINK last month deemed that there are already cash access facilities within a mile radius of the Lloyds branch that will close this coming May. It therefore concluded that no further services, such as a banking hub, are needed in Prudhoe. The assessment does not, however, consider the impact on access to face-to-face services within the community as they lose the town’s one remaining physical bank branch.
I fully support the introduction and rollout of banking hubs, enabling communities to access in person the fundamental function of banks from a range of providers where bank branches are scarce. I praise the Government for their commitment to open 350 hubs over the next five years and particularly the recent announcement of plans to open 10 new hubs, including in Alnwick and Amble in Northumberland and in Whitley Bay in north Tyneside. Nevertheless, I remain concerned about the pace of the rollout. According to Cash Access UK, the provider of banking hubs, it takes approximately 12 months to open a hub, as it must secure a suitable property and appoint operators and community bankers. What steps are the Government taking to speed up the rollout of banking hubs in light of increasing bank closures, and what certainty do they have that the FCA will fulfil its duty of ensuring that no community is left with a gap between the closure of a bank and the opening of a banking hub?
Considering the current rate of bank closures and recent announcements from Lloyds, I am concerned that 350 hubs will not be enough to fill the gap in services that the rapidly closing bank branches are leaving. Are the Government open to increasing this target to meet the needs of diverse communities?
Finally, while banking hubs are essential in providing face-to-face services, I also believe that they have a key role to play in bridging the digital divide. Banking hubs are well placed to offer training and support to those who do not find it easy to manage their finances online and to equip them with the digital skills to do so. What steps are the Government taking to encourage banking hubs to provide training to enable people to manage their finances online and to promote digital inclusion and thereby reduce digital poverty?
Online banking is an innovative tool to manage our personal finances, but it should not come at the expense of removing essential services from rural communities, nor the digital and financial exclusion of some of the most vulnerable people in society. I urge the Government to ensure that no one is left behind and I look forward to hearing the Minister’s response.
Age UK has briefed your Lordships on how this hits the elderly particularly hard. The elderly may be less digitally adroit than younger people, they may need to be protected from online scams, they may rely more on cash and they may need face-to-face advice. The solution to these issues is the Post Office. The Government have the ambition of banking hubs and they are rolling out 350 of them, over 100 of which are already up and running. That is excellent, but it is not ambitious enough.
Hubs are the key to holding communities together. Those hubs could—and in my opinion should—include not just banking but social interaction. They could include that essential ingredient of all civilised life: coffee, and even cake. Over the coffee and cake, people could meet to discuss what to do if they feel digitally excluded. They could bring their laptops in and work out how to upgrade them and how to protect themselves from scams. They could access all manner of government services, local and national, and possibly even other services, including driving licences and powers of attorney. They could work out how to deal with planning applications and they could buy things—and not just coffee and cake. Perhaps there could be a health centre hub—so they could be told they were drinking too much coffee. All of this would be not just a major step forward in relation to convenience but good for the resilience of the country. Resilience is the new black.
A couple of years ago, I chaired a Select Committee which examined risk planning and management. We found that the key to dealing with risk is general resilience and that resilience is most in evidence when it is bolstered and disseminated by strong communities. If the Post Office is about anything, it is about communities
The last thing the Government should be doing, as sadly happened in November, is closing post offices. As banks close their branches, we need more post offices, not fewer. We need bigger post offices, with the wonderful sub-postmasters getting back to their rightful role as leaders and enablers of their strong communities.
I turn to connectivity. What happens if you have no bank branch, and the broadband and mobile coverage isn’t all that in your area? That is especially the case in rural communities, but there are also some city not-spots. You can be as financially savvy and digitally smart as you want, and you can have the best device, but with no broadband or mobile connectivity that payment will not be made. What is the Government’s plan to look at all these elements of connectivity, to enable everybody to have the financial and digital inclusion not only that they deserve and need but that is vital if the Government are to deliver on levelling up and their growth agenda? If the bank branch has gone and there is no bus and no broadband, it is difficult to see financial and digital inclusion.
A lot of good work has happened around access to cash. What is the Government’s medium-term commitment to enabling access to cash and to the very service that underpins cash and the ease of accessing it in communities across our country? Can the Minister say whether there is a continuing commitment to free access to cash at all ATMs across the country?
What is the Government’s plan for cash acceptance? To put it in terms: what currency does cash have if there is no place to spend it? As my noble friend Lord Arbuthnot said, cash is such a key underpinning for resilience, including financial resilience for individuals who do not want to go online or who want to run their household or business with cash for reasons of control. Similarly, for the broader economy, what is the Government’s view on the resilience of continuing the cash system, if and when things go wrong in the digital space?
Finally, what are the Government’s plans for further innovating around access to, and acceptance of, cash? I was fortunate to bring an amendment to the Bill that became the Financial Services Act 2021, which enabled cashback without the need for a purchase. What is the measure of its success? Most of the transactions that have occurred as a result of that service are for £20 and under, so it is really delivering financial inclusion.
The third “c” is the most important: community. Yes, we can build digital communities, and they can be incredibly effective, but ultimately it is important how and where we meet and come together, and how we relate in the physical space—the human world. Some may say “IRL”, but it is that community space where so much human potential—and economic, social and psychological good—can get done.
I have a quartet of final questions for the Minister. How many hubs should be established by the end of this year? I agree that we could be more ambitious. Will the Minister consider setting an ambitious target of 1,000 hubs by the end of this Parliament? It would take at least 2,000 hubs to properly cover the branches that have disappeared—and continue to disappear. What are the Government’s thoughts on increasing business banking services within these hubs? For people who run small and micro-businesses, this could be a lifeline. They do not have time to get into a vehicle and go five miles to another town, they want to run their businesses. What are the plans for increasing business banking facilities at the hubs?
While we are on the issue of financial inclusion, I ask the Minister: what are the Government’s views on flat-screen card payment devices? These are completely inaccessible for blind people and many other people. The worst thing about it is that it is taking away something which was previously accessible—the card payment machine, which had buttons on—and enabled independent payments. Now, because of that technological change, they are completely inaccessible. Will the Government consider looking at this and giving their view on whether this breaches equalities legislation?
Financial and digital inclusion often walk hand in hand. It is the Government’s role—it is all of our role—to play a part in bringing them about. The social, human and community possibilities that come as a result are what makes it worth being in a country such as the United Kingdom. I look forward to the Minister’s response. Ultimately, it is an issue for rural communities. It is an issue for all communities because, at its heart, finance is how we enable possibilities. That is the purpose: individual possibilities, business possibilities and community possibilities. I thank the right reverend Prelate again for giving us the opportunity to discuss these matters this evening.
Far too often, the debate is framed solely around access to cash. That really fails to recognise that some people want and need face-to-face banking without having to make a long journey. It might be something such as registering a death, probate, powers of attorney, support with fraudulent activity, larger payments and transfers, and help on mortgages and loans. As the noble Lord, Lord Holmes, pointed out, small businesses often find that face-to-face discussion is necessary for them to have the confidence to begin to branch out and acquire the knowledge that they need to borrow and then to grow, so it is very much part of the Government’s economic agenda.
I am concerned that banking hubs, along with post offices, are being positioned as the key solution. We on these Benches have always supported shared banking hubs, provided that they provide a good range of basic banking services, including the presence of community bankers from all the main banks on a regular and frequent basis. When the Government have the next financial services Bill, will they amend the legislation to reflect that much broader need? What measures are the Treasury and, indeed, the regulator taking to make sure that those additional banking services are very much the norm and well represented within banking hubs? I join the noble Lords, Lord Holmes and Lord Arbuthnot, in saying that the rollout has been quite glacial and that there is a serious lack of ambition in 350 banking hubs; I would assess that double, perhaps even treble that number is necessary. The Economic Secretary to the Treasury, Emma Reynolds, says that she is
“championing sufficient access for all as a priority”.
Can the Minister tell us what “sufficient” means?
As the noble Lord, Lord Arbuthnot, has said, in many small or medium-sized rural towns where a banking hub would not be viable, the Post Office is now the only remaining financial institution where consumers and SMEs can do basic banking. I am really taken with his focus on these post offices as also functioning in many ways as the heart of the community and building the relationships within it, as well as providing services. What assurances can the Minister provide on the survival of these post offices?
The Small Business Minister, Gareth Thomas, said he wanted 99% of people to live within three miles of a post office. I remember trying to deal with this issue when I was an MP, and we had a huge battle because being within three miles or even one mile required you to swim across the Thames to get to the post office that had been identified. Do we now have a common-sense approach to try to work out whether these distances make sense for people in the way that they actually have to travel? What is the timetable, and can the Minister tell us how many post offices are surviving and being protected in rural areas? It is important that they are in deprived parts of urban communities, but rural areas are a greater challenge. The Minister’s views would be extremely helpful.
Community access to cash pilot schemes have been recommended for some of these areas, supposedly with tailored solutions. Can the Minister tell us whether those pilots have taken place?
I will pick up on the concerns that were raised by the noble Lord, Lord Holmes, on digital exclusion. He is essentially the House’s expert in this area, and I found it interesting that he does not consider digital inclusion to be sufficient. He points out that this very much goes hand in hand with the ability to receive face-to-face services.
With 17% of social tenants without any internet access at home, and with so many others in areas where internet access is unreliable and difficult, what action are the Government taking on access to skills? The noble Lord, Lord Arbuthnot, asked, why not use the post office for teaching and access to skills? Also, what are the Government doing to upgrade the technology as part of financial inclusion?
Access to banking services is a necessity, not a luxury; inclusive growth absolutely requires it. Our rural communities cannot be left disadvantaged. Are the Government ready to get a grip on this issue, be radical if necessary and make sure that both individuals and businesses have the financial infrastructure they require?
Then, there was cost pressure on the banks, partly as a result of regulation, which made it hard to maintain buildings and branches. It is particularly regrettable that the advantages of ring-fenced banks—a theoretical concept of prudential regulation which comes at an actual, not theoretical, cost of over £1 billion a year to the UK economy—have had the real-world consequence of a reduction in consumer utility through the closure of branches. While the banks are safe, the banks have, as a matter of fact, closed.
The noble Lord, Lord Arbuthnot, referenced the plans to provide some support through post offices and the new banking hubs. There may be charity initiatives that could maintain a degree of branch service as well. As of this year, only 100 hubs are operational, and we understand that the Government are committed to achieving 350 hubs by 2029. The Post Office, we think, has indicated a higher number of 500 by 2030. Clearly, these numbers are insufficient, as other noble Lords have pointed out. This issue is rather urgent in areas with no banks at all. Nevertheless, hubs are unlikely to replicate the services and knowledge of a working bank branch.
There is some evidence that closures are now slowing, particularly as Lloyds Bank gets to the end of its closure programme. There may be some competitive advantage to the remaining banks with branches—led by Nationwide, which now has the largest network, with around 700 branches. The regulatory pressure to reduce the number of branches, notwithstanding the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023, may be partly offset by the needs of small businesses, which do need branches and do need to handle coins and cash. For them, we must be thankful.
Branch closures are part of a wider retail shutdown going on at the moment, and all the more reason to ask the Government to intervene, perhaps by asking that the banks hold their branch networks now at the level of around 3,000 branches. We could call this level the “Newcastle number” in honour of the right reverend Prelate. We need to mark at some point where the bank closures end, and now is as good a time as any, particularly because the process is slowing. At the very least, we should give time for alternative services to grow before the situation becomes acute, not only in rural communities but everywhere in the country.
For example, the Government intend to introduce permanently lower tax rates for high-street retail, hospitality and leisure properties with a rateable value below £0.5 million from 2026-27.
There have been many comments about connectivity, and I heard the comments that the noble Lord, Lord Holmes, made very powerfully. That is why, on 17 December, the Government introduced the Bus Services (No. 2) Bill to this House, putting power over local bus services back into the hands of local leaders, to address the concerns that have been raised today.
We have heard a lot about the target for banking hub services and we are working closely with banks to roll out 350 hubs by the end of this Parliament. As we know, over 100 have already been opened. I reassure noble Lords of the extent of the services on offer. They provide services for personal account holders, but they also offer services to business customers so that they can withdraw cash, deposit cheques and pay bills. They also have separate rooms where customers can see community bankers from their own bank to carry out the wider banking services that have been raised today, such as registering a bereavement or help with changing a PIN—whatever the need, that service is available. The Government are committed to working with industry to ensure that banking hubs meet customers’ needs. Some banking hubs are trialling opening on Saturday mornings, which is something we can all look at with interest. We will drive forward the rollout of hubs. I cannot say how many hubs will open this year—this is work in progress—but I recognise the ambition around this, and the training needs that have been highlighted today.
It might help if I set out the FCA’s rules that underpin the rollout of banking hubs. When a bank announces a branch closure, LINK, the operator of the UK’s largest ATM network, will carry out an impartial assessment of communities’ access to cash needs. Where LINK recommends a banking hub, Cash Access UK—a not-for-profit company funded by the major banks—will provide it. Where a closure triggers an assessment, the branch cannot close until any LINK-recommended services have been installed. I hope that gives some reassurances about the concerns raised.
LINK considers population size, the number of small businesses and levels of vulnerability. It also considers the distance to the nearest branch and the cost and travel time via public transport. Anyone who feels a banking hub is needed, including members of this House, can request an access to cash review directly through the LINK website. The noble Baroness, Lady Kramer, highlighted access to services. The Government are determined to see local communities get what they need when it comes to cash and banking services and are continually working to improve this.
I pay enormous tribute to the noble Lord, Lord Arbuthnot, for the work that he has done with post offices. I recognise what he said about them being at the heart of the community. I remember the days when you used to go on a weekly basis to pick up child benefit, and the people that you met. When you did that, people knew you were okay. I am afraid that we have lost that. I was a proud owner of a Girobank account as well, and I am delighted that post offices are stepping up to the plate in terms of offering banking services. They have a duty to serve their communities, which is at the heart of this debate, and 99% of personal customers and 95% of business customers can do their everyday banking at the 11,500 post offices around the country. The comments from the noble Lord, Lord Holmes, about communities absolutely fit in with that.
I assure noble Lords that the Secretary of State for the Department for Business and Trade has met the Post Office’s chair, Nigel Railton, to discuss the Post Office network. It is central to our thinking as a Government.
I appreciate that post office closures can be concerning for communities but, unfortunately, branches can shut down for a variety of reasons, many of which are outside the Post Office’s control. Post Office Ltd works with communities to ensure that services are maintained, and the government-set access criteria ensure that services remain in reach.
Running throughout this discussion today was the issue of financial inclusion. I am pleased that work on the financial inclusion strategy is carrying on and is being developed, alongside a supporting committee chaired by my colleague, the Economic Secretary. The committee’s mission is to tackle a range of barriers to inclusion for excluded groups. That includes work being taken forward by a sub-committee of consumer and industry representatives, focusing on key policy issues, including digital inclusion and access to banking services, which met for the first time earlier today.
I recognise the whole issue of fraud. We have to emphasise that. It is one of the most cynical crimes in the country, targeting the most vulnerable and the elderly.
To respond to the noble Lord, Lord Holmes, many firms support access to digital services through different initiatives. On the noble Lord’s point about the accessibility of card payment terminals, I am pleased that UK Finance and the Royal National Institute of Blind People have developed accessibility guidelines for touchscreen chip and pin services and an approved list of accessible card terminals, although I accept that there is certainly more to do.
Access to cash is something that we have run through, but the whole issue of digital inclusion, as expressed so ably, is pivotal. Through the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, this Government are taking the lead and looking forward to working around digital barriers beyond financial services, which can include customers, while the whole issue of the rollout of broadband internet services is something that we are all aware of.
What we need to understand is that access to a transactional bank account is a crucial element in supporting people’s financial resilience and well-being. I think that runs throughout this. I am conscious that there were a number of very specific questions put to me. I guarantee to write in response to those questions.
I end by thanking the right reverend Prelate again for her timely debate, and for her continued championing of rural banking access. I was struck that she broadened this out and recognised that inclusion is an issue right across the country for many of our different communities. I reassure her and the House that the Government will reflect very carefully on all the points that have been raised today in this very thoughtful and helpful debate.