Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the number of financially vulnerable people in Enfield North constituency.

The Government expects firms to treat their customers fairly where they face financial vulnerabilities, and seeks to ensure that people are able to access useful and affordable financial products and services.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) publishes a Financial Lives Survey (FLS) which measures financial resilience across the UK. Published extracts from its 2022 survey show that 25% of adults in London have low financial resilience, with 7% in financial difficulty. In January 2023, the FCA published an update which details consumer experiences of the elevated cost of living and reminds firms that if a customer is in vulnerable circumstances, they should be provided with an appropriate level of care and support.

The Government recognises the challenges facing households due to the elevated cost of living and took action at Spring Budget 2023 to protect struggling families. This was in addition to the benefits uprating and support for vulnerable households announced at the Autumn Statement which included new Cost of Living Payments in 2023-24, helping more than 8 million UK households on eligible means tested benefits, 8 million pensioner households, and 6 million people across the UK on eligible disability benefits.

While the Government does not intervene in the commercial decisions of firms to close bank branches, it believes that all customers should have appropriate access to banking services. According to LINK data for April 2023, there are around 39,000 free-to-use ATMs across the UK, including 57 in the constituency of Enfield North.

The FCA expects firms to carefully consider the impact of planned closures on the everyday banking and cash access needs of their customers, including those who are vulnerable, and consider possible alternative access arrangements. Alternative options for access can be via telephone banking, digital banking, and the Post Office. New shared banking hubs are also being introduced to provide basic banking services and dedicated space where community bankers from major banks can meet their customers. Over 60 bank hubs have been announced and 6 have opened their doors so far.