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1145539

registered interest
date	24/09/2019
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Banks: Closures
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the proportion of high street bank branches that have closed in the last five years.
tabling member constituency	Coventry South
tabling member printed	Mr Jim Cunningham
uin	290284
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/09/2019 answer text <p>The Treasury does not make assessments of the bank branch network. The decision to close a branch is a commercial issue for the management team of the bank. However, Government believes it is important the impact on communities must be understood, considered and mitigated where possible. That is why the Government continues to be very supportive of the Access to Banking Standard and the commitment it places on banks to minimise the impact of branch closures, including by ensuring that customers are aware of the alternative ways they can continue to access banking services. These include the Post Office, which allows 95% of business and 99% of personal banking customers to carry out their everyday banking at 11,500 Post Office branches across the UK.</p><p> </p><p>The Financial Conduct Authority undertook an analysis of branch closures as part of their Strategic Review of Retail Banking Business Models. This analysis can be found in Annex 1 of the final report.</p> answering member constituency Salisbury answering member printed John Glen question first answered 30/09/2019 09:33:30 answering member 4051 label Biography information for John Glen
tabling member	308 label Biography information for Mr Jim Cunningham

1145544

registered interest
date	24/09/2019
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Bank Services: Older People
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to ensure that elderly people have access to a bank branch.
tabling member constituency	Coventry South
tabling member printed	Mr Jim Cunningham
uin	290285
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/09/2019 answer text <p>Though I can understand the disappointment felt in a community when a bank branch closes, the decision to maintain a presence on the high street is a commercial one for the management team of a bank and Government does not intervene in those decisions.</p><p> </p><p>The retail financial landscape is changing, as more consumers and businesses opt for the convenience, security, and speed of digital payments and digital banking. Banking service providers need to balance customer interests, market competition, and other commercial factors when considering their strategy.</p><p> </p><p>However, the Government also firmly believes that the impact of branch closures should be understood, considered, and mitigated where possible so that all customers, wherever they live, continue to have access to over-the-counter banking services if they wish to use them. That’s why the Government supports the industry’s Access to Banking Standard which helps customers to understand the options they have locally to continue to access banking services, including specialist assistance for customers who need more help, which may include the elderly. Alternative options include the Post Office, which allows 95% of business and 99% of personal banking customers to carry out their everyday banking at 11,500 Post Office branches across the UK.</p> answering member constituency Salisbury answering member printed John Glen question first answered 30/09/2019 09:36:07 answering member 4051 label Biography information for John Glen
tabling member	308 label Biography information for Mr Jim Cunningham

1145633

registered interest
date	24/09/2019
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Cash Dispensing: Fees and Charges
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that free to use automated teller machines are available throughout the country.
tabling member constituency	Inverclyde
tabling member printed	Ronnie Cowan
uin	290402
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/09/2019 answer text <p>The management and deployment of ATMs is a commercial matter for ATM market participants, however the Government recognises that widespread access to cash remains extremely important to the day-to-day lives of many consumers and businesses in the UK. That is why the Government is engaging, and will continue to engage, with the regulators and industry on this important topic.</p><p> </p><p>The Government-established Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) is closely monitoring developments in ATM provision. The PSR regulates LINK, the scheme which runs the UK’s ATM network, and has used its powers to hold LINK to account over LINK’s commitments to preserve the broad geographic spread of the ATM network.</p><p> </p><p>LINK has put in place specific arrangements to protect free-to-use ATMs more than 1 kilometre away from the next nearest free-to-use ATM and has also enhanced its Financial Inclusion Programme. More recently, LINK has committed to protecting free access to cash on high streets – where there is a cluster of five or more retailers – that don’t have a free-to-use ATM or a Post Office counter within 1 kilometre.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, the Government has invested heavily in maintaining a stable network of Post Office branches, with investment of around £2 billion since 2010. Currently, 99% of personal customers and 95% of small business customers can carry out their everyday banking locally at one of the Post Office’s 11,500 branches.</p> answering member constituency Salisbury answering member printed John Glen question first answered 30/09/2019 09:30:35 answering member 4051 label Biography information for John Glen
tabling member	4465 label Biography information for Ronnie Cowan