Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what support he offers to Credit Unions; and what steps his Department is taking to encourage their use.

The government is committed to supporting credit unions, which provide vital services to financially underserved communities and contribute to the diversity of the UK’s financial services sector. The government has done this by:

• Announcing at Autumn Budget 2017, that where a credit union’s membership conditions are based on locality, a credit union will be able to increase the number of potential members it can have from 2 to 3 million.

• Announcing at Autumn Statement 2016 that, from 2018, a scheme which incentivises credit union membership in communities at risk of being targeted by loan sharks, will be expanded. This uses funds recovered under the Proceeds of Crime Act from convicted loan sharks.

• Contributing £600,000 to an initiative developed by the Archbishop of Canterbury and Young Enterprise, to start savings clubs in primary schools and educate young children in the benefits of saving. Lifesavers works with local credit unions to help run savings clubs in schools.