Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department's Access to Banking Services Review will consider the introduction of a baseline level of access to in-person banking services, including the potential contribution of the Post Office network.

The Government is committed to ensuring that people who need in-person banking can continue to access essential services.

That is why the Government commissioned an independent Review into Access to Banking Services, to assess whether changes to access to in-person banking services are causing consumer detriment and the scale of any detriment.

As part of this, the Review will consider existing forms of in-person banking provision. The Post Office provides banking services through over 10,000 branches via the Banking Framework agreement and, as such, the provision of services by the Post Office on behalf of banks will be considered as part of the Review.

The Access to Banking Services Review is being conducted on an independent basis. The Chair will provide a report and recommendations to the Government upon its conclusion, at which point the Government will consider any future actions.