It has always been one of my top priorities to ensure that infrastructure in our areas is accessible and reliable for all, and an essential part of this is access to cash. More and more, our rural and semi-rural areas are seeing their access to banking services reduced, and this is a particular issue for small businesses, the elderly, the disabled, and simply those who are less comfortable using online banking.
I have seen first-hand the improvements that increased access to banking services can have, when Rickmansworth Post Office in my constituency of South West Hertfordshire stepped up to provide additional banking services following the closure of three bank branches in the town since I was first elected in 2019. The residents of Abbots Langley on the other hand have no access to banking services following the last bank branch closing in 2021, and I have been supporting my local councillors Vicky Edwards and Ian Campbell in a campaign to get a banking hub established there. A petition supporting this has already reached 1300 signatures.
This need for greater access for those in my constituency was the driving force behind me calling this debate, as the Government needs to do more to ensure that access to cash and banking services is supported in rural and semi-rural areas such as mine, Whilst over 160 banking hubs have already been set up, only 4 of these are in Hertfordshire, and, with rural and semi-rural areas being twice as likely to depend on their local post office as urban areas for cash and banking services, this is a key issue in South West Hertfordshire.
There is no doubt that the Post Office provides an essential service with regards to access to cash, and the agreement signed with the Post Office and the major banks to provide cash withdrawal and deposit services is a welcome step, especially as 97.9% of the UK’s rural population live within three miles of a post office branch, but the Post Office cannot be relied on without extra support in the form of banking hubs or support to run additional services, such as is the case in Rickmansworth.
It was a pleasure to be joined by so many of my esteemed colleagues and friends during my Westminster Hall debate, and at the core of discussions was the need for greater flexibility in the criteria that is used by LINK to determine the need for a banking hub in an area, with parliamentary colleagues sharing their own experience of the criteria being far too restrictive, and not taking into account key factors. I welcomed the point raised by my honourable friend Sir John Hayes MP, that providing a banking hub every community of over 5,000 people that does not have a bank would only require 1,200 banking hubs, and I propose this as the ambitious addition to the current target of 350 hubs, as this current target will not meet all of the needs of the areas and groups of people raised during the debate.
We must make sure that our small businesses, elderly, and disabled do not get left behind, and this sentiment was echoed by colleagues during this debate. As someone with a small business background, I know that cash can play an essential role, and, with 28% of small businesses reporting to use cash at least weekly, in the face of the Labour Government’s business-killing regulation and tax hikes, keeping small businesses supported has never been more critical. I spoke to businesses in my constituency ahead of this debate, with many supportive of the idea of a banking hub to avoid them having to make long journeys with a large amount of cash, a time-consuming, and potentially dangerous practice.
Those over 65 also face being excluded in a cashless and bank-less society, with a third feeling uncomfortable using online banking, with those with a disability also facing the negative impact of bank closures, particularly as these groups of people may have to use unreliable, inaccessible, and expensive public transport, an issue which I am also fiercely campaigning on in my area. My constituents should not find it difficult to access their own money, and I welcomed the opportunity to call on the Government to do more to support access to cash and banking services, to share the core details of why this is so important for my area, and to hear the similar experiences of colleagues.
Opening just twelve hundred banking hubs would ensure every community of 5,000 people has access to in-person financial services
