Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to support collaboration between credit unions and local authorities to improve household financial resilience.

Local authorities and credit unions can be effective partners in supporting financial resilience in their local communities. Examples include credit unions facilitating payroll savings at local councils, local authorities signposting local residents to affordable credit they could access at credit unions, and collaboration on financial education initiatives.

While it is for each local authority to determine their own local partnership arrangements, the Government and the financial services regulators are focused on creating the conditions for credit unions to grow and succeed. For example, the Government is making growth-focused reforms to the common bond framework and establishing a £30m Credit Union Transformation Fund, while the FCA and the PRA are reviewing credit union regulation to ensure it remains proportionate.