Financial Inclusion: Rural Areas

Joe Morris Excerpts

Wednesday 11th December 2024 Westminster Hall

[Anna Sabine]

I agree with my hon. Friend that we need to tighten up and look again at the criteria to which Link is working, to make sure that banking hubs are in the right places.

To turn away from banking hubs, I would like to raise the role of the post office, which is a vital service in many rural areas. In the village of Rode in my constituency, the post office sits within the local shop and café, doing vital work in not only posting parcels but supporting the local community. We have pop-up post offices in communities such as Freshford and Mells. For the elderly, the post office is a vital support in providing information on how to deal with bills and understand their pension credits, as well as generally giving them someone to talk to. Post office branches provide basic banking services, and in small towns where a banking hub is not viable, post offices are often the only remaining financial institution for customers and small and medium-sized enterprises.

[Joe Morris (Hexham) (Lab)]

The hon. Lady is making an eloquent speech and has been generous with her time. I have talked before about the need for a banking hub in Haltwhistle, in the west of my constituency. It has, unfortunately, lost banking services. Local businesses tell me that the Post Office van that stops there infrequently is simply not enough to regenerate the local economy.

I have been pleased to hear the hon. Lady speak about the need for banking hubs to be decided on slightly more loose criteria. Does she agree that for rural areas in particular, where central towns can be the linchpin of local economies, we should look at how we underpin their economic growth when we consider where we can bring in banking hubs?

[Anna Sabine]

I absolutely agree with the hon. Gentleman.

In my constituency, cash deposits are valued at £2.1 million each month, which shows how reliant small businesses and charities are on having access to banking facilities that allow them to withdraw and deposit money.

I would also like to talk about digital inclusion. In a world that is increasingly moving online, many elderly and vulnerable people are being left behind. Older people are not necessarily comfortable using online or even phone banking. They are being forced on to those services, which reduces their financial inclusion and puts them at greater risk of financial fraud. Rural communities can find themselves doubly excluded as more banking services move online, with a lack of access to cash facilities locally and poor digital connectivity.