High Street Bank Closures

Chris Elmore Excerpts

Tuesday 28th February 2023 Commons Chamber

[Alex Davies-Jones (Pontypridd) (Lab)]

It is a privilege to secure this debate. I am pleased to see the Minister in his place. I thank him, ahead of his response, for being here to discuss this vital issue, which I know is important to Members across the House—they feel strongly about it. I must also place on record my heartfelt thanks to the charities and organisations that have provided briefing material ahead of tonight’s debate, including Which?, Link and the Social Market Foundation, among many others.

Colleagues representing rural, semi-rural and urban constituencies alike will all be familiar with the worrying trend of bank closures on the UK’s high streets. In the late 1980s, over 20,000 bank branches were open across the UK. Today, just 5,000 bank branches remain—a 75% decrease since 1980. Since 2015 alone, well over 5,000 bank branches have closed. On the eve of St David’s Day and as a proud Welsh Labour MP, I am particularly stunned by the statistic that Wales has lost an astonishing 43% of its bank branches between 2015 and 2019.

[Chris Elmore (Ogmore) (Lab)]

I thank my hon. Friend and constituency neighbour for giving way, and I congratulate her on securing the debate. She knows my constituency well and mentions the sheer number of banks that have fallen. In my entire constituency, there is now one bank left for 58,000 constituents. Does she agree that one of the pressures is the number of charities that rely on the banking sector? If there are no local branches, it makes it so much harder for charities to undertake their work and use local bank services. There is a real problem around the banking charter that the Government need to address.

[Alex Davies-Jones]

I completely agree with my hon. Friend and constituency neighbour. He will know the impact of the latest announcement of a bank closure in Talbot Green, which is used by our constituents. That is having an impact on local charities and local charity shops on our high street, because they deal in small petty cash. They do not deal in card transactions. I will come on to talk about that issue.

As I said, I secured the debate when I learnt of the latest closure in my constituency. Talbot Green, home to just under 3,000 people, will lose yet another high street bank branch, with Barclays set to close in May. Having already lost HSBC in 2021, as well as Lloyds previously, Talbot Green’s residents will be left with no dedicated high street bank whatever. Across my communities and the many communities neighbouring my constituency, the story is the same: residents are abandoned by their banks and are now forced to travel unacceptable distances to their next nearest branch. In Tonyrefail, Barclays closed in 2015 and Lloyds closed in 2016. In Church Village, Lloyds closed its doors in 2021, leaving the entire village with no dedicated bank at all. Even in Pontypridd town centre, where thankfully several high street branches remain open, the loss of the HSBC branch in 2021 is still part of a worrying trend.

Too many of my constituents are now left with no high street banking presence in their communities. Consider this example: a constituent in Tonyrefail, who does not drive and who is a member of a bank whose nearest branch is now in Pontypridd town, would now be forced to travel for over an hour each way on public transport, catching four buses in total for a return trip.