Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what plans she has to engage with the charity sector on the potential effect of bank branch closures on their operations.

We regularly engage with sector representatives to understand challenges and opportunities facing the sector, as does the regulator of charities, the Charity Commission of England and Wales, and the Fundraising Regulator. To date, DCMS has not received representations about the immediate risk to the sector of branch closures. However, we are aware of the longer term pressures that a move towards a cashless society will create for some in the sector. The Government is keen to engage with the sector on this issue, and work on it with the regulators.