Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Chancellor’s letter of 14 November 2024 on the remit and recommendations for the Financial Policy Committee, what assessment they have made of the extent to which the Financial Conduct Authority has implemented its requirement to ‘have regard’ to reinforcing financial inclusion.

Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

Ensuring everyone has access to the financial services and products they need is a key priority for the Government. This is why we recently published the Financial Inclusion Strategy setting out a range of measures to improve financial inclusion and resilience for underserved groups across the UK.

The Chancellor recognised the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) role in reinforcing financial inclusion in the most recent remit letter, which asks them to have regard to the Government’s priorities in relation to this. The FCA is required to respond annually to the remit letter and in its most recent response, published in July 2025, Nikhil Rathi (FCA CEO) emphasised the FCA’s support for the Government’s Financial Inclusion Strategy which was developed with input from a committee of consumer and industry representatives, including the FCA given their key role in the sector.
The FCA has a range of powers which it is using to promote financial inclusion and resilience and will play a key role in the delivery of several interventions within the strategy. We continue to engage closely with the FCA on this and the successful implementation of the strategy more broadly.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to develop metrics to evaluate the (1) implementation, and (2) impact, of the Financial Inclusion Strategy.

Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

In early November, the Government published its Financial Inclusion Strategy, setting out an ambitious programme of measures to improve financial inclusion and resilience for underserved groups across the UK. This includes interventions by both Government and industry to address barriers individuals and households face in accessing financial products, such as supporting people to open a bank account, build a savings habit, and access affordable credit

As part of developing the strategy, the Government has engaged with Financial Inclusion Committee members and other organisations on how best to measure its implementation and impact. The strategy is expected to have a positive impact on a range of outputs including, for example the proportion of UK adults who are unbanked

The strategy’s implementation will be reviewed in two years’ time, providing an update on delivery of the interventions and on relevant outcomes‑based metrics, which will reflect the progress made across the sector

The Government recognises that improving financial inclusion requires a joined‑up approach and will continue to work closely with industry, the Financial Conduct Authority and wider stakeholders as we implement the strategy.