Financial Inclusion: Rural Areas

Chris Bloore Excerpts

Wednesday 11th December 2024 Westminster Hall

[Anna Sabine]

That is a great question from my hon. Friend. I believe people should. As I understand it, there is a challenge relating to banking hubs and printers because there is a data or GDPR issue with the different banks sharing the printer. That definitely needs to be looked into for banking hubs.

To return to poor digital connectivity, just this week I had an email from a couple in their 70s who run a small artisan business in Pilton. They are getting speeds of only around 1.5 to 3 megabits if they use a normal router, but when they asked to be connected to the nearby Glastonbury exchange they were told it would cost them £290,000, including VAT. I have heard about similar issues from farmers in my constituency who cannot get broadband past the boundary of their farm, which can be several miles from the actual property.

Financial and digital inclusion are critically linked. For those on low incomes, access to online banking can be costly, requiring a computer or mobile phone data. For people in rural areas, it is tricky to manage finances online with limited access to broadband.

[Chris Bloore (Redditch) (Lab)]

I congratulate the hon. Lady on securing this important debate. I also represent a rural constituency, and one of the big problems is that many older-generation residents have lost their buses over the past 10 years—thousands of bus routes have been lost. Right now, some of my oldest residents in a rural area are facing the prospect of losing the 145 bus, which is their only connection to the banks that remain in the constituency. I hope the hon. Lady agrees that the Government’s recent extra funding will help us to protect those routes. I urge local councils not to risk older residents being cut off from key banking institutions.

[Anna Sabine]

I agree that bus routes are critical to rural communities. It would have been lovely if we could have kept the bus fare cap at £2—that has made it a bit harder—but I totally agree with the hon. Gentleman about buses and their importance in those areas.

I am going to make some progress now. I urge the Government to think carefully about how they move forward with legislation on digital services for banking, especially in rural areas.

Finally, although this is not necessarily a rural issue, I would like to make the Minister aware of a specific issue relating to the identity requirements for a bank account. I visited my local food bank in Frome on Monday, and people told me that although the Government have a website designed to help those without an address to get the ID they need to open a bank account, there is a critical flaw in the process. The last stage of the website requires the applicant to get a professional, such as an accountant or lawyer, who is personally known to them to sign off on their application. Clearly, that is not possible for many of those who apply. Please will the Minister look at that? It is currently preventing many people from accessing the ID they need to get a bank account.

I am pleased that the Government’s plans talk about financial inclusion, but the Lib Dems want to go further and see a dedicated national financial inclusion strategy. That would require the Financial Conduct Authority to have regard to financial inclusion, such as by protecting access to cash, especially in remote areas, by supporting banking hubs, by expanding access to bank accounts and by supporting vulnerable customers. As technology and innovation evolve, it is critical that we bring everyone along on the journey. That is very much the case when it comes to finances. Rural areas deserve the same levels of financial access as everyone else, and I urge the Government to bear that in mind in their decision making.