Financial Services and Markets Bill

Pauline Latham Excerpts

2nd reading
Wednesday 7th September 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mrs Pauline Latham (Mid Derbyshire) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to speak after other hon. Members who are interested in access to cash. The many people who need it cannot exist in this cashless society. I intend to speak briefly to clauses 47 and 48, which aim to put on a statutory footing some of the best conclusions of the independent access to cash review in 2019.

The Cash Action Group is already carrying out important work to ensure that those who need or want access to in-person banking services continue to have it. I support clauses 47 and 48 because they will encourage that activity, put it on a statutory footing and regulate it. In Belper in my constituency, the final high street bank branch, Lloyds, will close in November. That is very common and is happening all over the country as high street banks are closing their branches, much to the horror of the elderly population and of many younger people, particularly those on the breadline.

A significant minority of people in many communities, including Belper, still want to or can only use cash and in-person banking. My right hon. Friend the Member for South Northamptonshire (Dame Andrea Leadsom) talked about her daughter getting a cheque. What do people do with cheques these days? Many people need access to a bank. A survey that I ran locally revealed that more than 60% of respondents had used in-person banking services in the last month, and more than 35% never used online or virtual banking.

When high street banks take the commercial decision to close branches, one option is to open shared banking hubs, where the consulting room is occupied by a different bank one day each week. Every day, businesses and individuals can use the pay-in desk, staffed by the post office, to carry out everyday cash withdrawals and payments. In Belper, many small businesses need access to that service, to the point where the post office is overwhelmed by the number of people who use it.

Respondents to my survey overwhelmingly backed such a shared banking hub in Belper, and I was delighted that it was announced yesterday that Belper will indeed host a shared banking hub. I have been told that the data shows that such hubs increase footfall on the high street and improve cash practices for local businesses, having knock-on effects well beyond simply providing cash and banking services to people. This is in a way a social service for some often very lonely people who will come into Belper to have conversations with real people. They do not want to do banking online, and elderly people in particular, who can be isolated in their homes, need this service so that there is a reason to go into town and actually talk to people. I think this is such an important thing to happen.

In addition, these banking hubs are going to be good for the environment. In my survey, over 50% of those who currently bank with the bank that is closing in Belper said they would have to use a car to get to their new nearest branch and, worryingly, nearly 20% told me that they would have no way at all of getting to another branch. Therefore, the shared banking hub will actively reduce the amount of traffic and emissions Belper residents use while doing their banking. As Belper is a transition town, they are very keen to care for the environment. I am delighted for Belper with the success of this campaign, which I have run alongside local councillors.

I hope that shared banking hubs can be rolled out across the whole country, because I think they are the future. If it is not commercially viable to keep a bank open five days a week, it is much more likely that it can keep going one day a week, and that is where shared banking hubs will really win out. That is why I support clauses 47 and 48, which appoint the FCA as the lead regulator for access to cash and will mean that the Treasury can designate firms to be subject to oversight for the purpose of ensuring the continued provision of cash and banking services access. That should encourage even more banking hubs in communities that do not currently have good access to cash or banking, and I hope that all hon. and right hon. Members will support the Bill when we vote later today.