Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department has taken to (a) protect access to free-to-use ATMs and (b) evaluate the impact of current access to ATMs in (i) Stockport and (ii) Greater Manchester.

LINK (the scheme that runs the UK's largest ATM network) has commitments to protect the broad geographic spread of free-to-use ATMs and is held to account against these commitments by the Payment Systems Regulator. LINK has committed to protect free-to-use ATMs more than one kilometre away from the next nearest free ATM or Post Office, and free access to cash on high streets (where there is a cluster of five or more retailers) that do not have a free-to-use ATM or a Post Office counter within one kilometre.

LINK publishes the total number of free-to-use ATMs across the UK. As of February 2022, LINK reported that there were around 41,000 free-to-use ATMs in the UK. LINK’s Monthly ATM Footprint Report also publishes information on the break down by constituency.

From 1 July to 23 September last year, the government held the Access to Cash Consultation on proposals for new laws to make sure people only need to travel a reasonable distance to pay in or take out cash. These proposals include making the FCA the lead regulator for retail cash with responsibility for ensuring that cash access points provide reasonable access, reflecting factors such as cost for end users. The government will set out next steps following this consultation in due course.