Financial Inclusion

Jamie Stone Excerpts

Wednesday 22nd October 2025 Westminster Hall

[Martin Rhodes]

I agree that we need to make sure that all communities have access to financial services, wherever they are and whoever they are. Everybody needs access to those services. I will welcome hearing from the Minister later about the financial inclusion strategy.

[Jamie Stone (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) (LD)]

I hope that the hon. Member agrees that the Financial Conduct Authority’s work on access to cash is a useful step in the right direction. Does he also agree that provision should be widened to include face-to-face services, whereby people can see someone across the counter and receive advice?

[Martin Rhodes]

I certainly agree. Later in my speech, I will come on to the issues of access to cash and face-to-face financial services.

All the groups that I have mentioned face barriers, but an area of particular concern that I wish to focus on this morning is financial inclusion for disabled people. Much of my thinking on the issue has been informed by the hard work of the Advisory Group, or TAG, a Scottish charitable incorporated organisation run by and for people with disabilities and abilities. Glasgow TAG’s banking campaign steering committee came together in response to growing frustration among TAG members about how banking is excluding them, both in terms of access and in terms of treatment. They have highlighted to me the very real financial exclusion that they face in everyday life.

A key issue that the group has raised with me is access to cash. Many members rely on cash for daily budgeting. The shift to card-only businesses and the closure of free-to-use ATMs are leaving people unable to spend their own money. Quarriers, one of Scotland’s largest social care charities, reports that 76% of people with learning disabilities rely on support with their finances, and the same proportion use bank cards to withdraw cash. In my constituency, we have seen a 22% decrease in free-to-use ATMs between 2019 and 2025. This has created cash deserts, where communities are left without access to cash machines, and those that remain often charge for withdrawals or are inside premises with closing times. I hope that the Minister will engage with the issue and acknowledge the importance of continued free access to cash for financial inclusion.

The second issue that TAG has raised is discrimination in branches. TAG members have shared experiences of being ignored in favour of support workers, denied access to their own accounts or treated with suspicion. There is a strong feeling among TAG members who have spoken to me that financial institutions are not doing enough to meet their obligations under the Equality Act 2010. Will the Government consider supporting mandatory disability awareness and equality training in banking institutions, to help prevent such incidents?