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Debate between Henry Tufnell and Graham Leadbitter(3 weeks, 1 day ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Graham Leadbitter
Absolutely. That consistency is vital, but flexibility within the criteria is also vital. I will come on to that as well.
It is frankly hard to stomach that the big high street banks use the argument of increased digital banking to justify local bank closures while building large, centralised banking centres in our cities. Surely the same argument can be applied to push workforce and management out to existing bank branches in local communities and enable that local workforce to carry out tasks on national functions such as mortgage services and business banking using the very same digital technology.
Henry Tufnell (Mid and South Pembrokeshire) (Lab)
On the point about the assessment made by Link under statute, does the hon. Gentleman agree that the three-mile radius that is being used by Link is totally inadequate when looking at rural areas such as mine in Pembrokeshire?
Graham Leadbitter
Yes, and I thank the hon. Member for that intervention. We are down to six bank branches in an area that takes two and a half hours to drive around. It is simply impossible for many people in those areas to access those services.