Declares that the proposed closure of the Santander Branch on Downing Drive in Evington will have an extremely negative impact on elderly residents in the area who use the branch.
The Petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urges the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to meet with representatives of Santander to examine the impact of branch closures on local residents.
And the Petitioners remain, etc.—[Presented by Keith Vaz, Official Report, 6 May 2014; Vol. 580, c. 122 .]
[P001347]
Observations from the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Treasury, received 25 July 2014:
The Government thank the Member for Leicester East (Keith Vaz) for his petition on the closure of the Santander agency on Downing Drive, Evington.
The Government are sorry to hear about the disappointment of the residents of Leicester East at the closure of this Santander agency. Although we can understand their concerns, decisions on opening and closing agencies are taken by the management team of each bank on a commercial basis. As with other banking service providers, Santander will need to balance customer interests, market competition, and other commercial factors when considering its strategy and the Government do not seek to intervene in these decisions.
It may be useful to note that many bank account providers already have an arrangement with the Post Office to provide access to their bank accounts, where customers can withdraw money, deposit cash and cheques and check balances at all 11,500 Post Office branches in the UK.
It is vitally important that the banking sector serves the wider economy, and the Government are committed to increasing competition to deliver innovation, and good financial products and services for all banking customers.