Oral Answers to Questions

Gill Furniss Excerpts

Tuesday 4th November 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. This question is linked to Newcastle, so we will go to the next question.

[Gill Furniss (Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough) (Lab)]

12. What recent progress she has made on the development of a financial inclusion strategy.

[The Economic Secretary to the Treasury (Lucy Rigby)]

I pay tribute to my hon. Friend for her years of work to further financial inclusion both during her time here and prior to Parliament. This is a timely question, because tomorrow we will publish the Government’s financial inclusion strategy, which sets out an ambitious programme of measures to improve financial inclusion and resilience for communities right across the UK.

[Gill Furniss]

Earlier this year, I chaired a roundtable with the all-party parliamentary group on debt and financial inclusion that highlighted our five key asks. Nearly 70% of adults in my constituency are considered to be in financially vulnerable circumstances—among the highest proportions in the city. What steps does the Minister plan to take to measure the impact of the financial inclusion strategy? Will she meet me to discuss that?

[Lucy Rigby]

My hon. Friend raises a really important point. As part of developing the strategy, the Government have engaged with Financial Inclusion Committee members and other organisations on how to measure the impact of the strategy, and indeed to drive its delivery. The strategy’s implementation will be reviewed two years from publication against outcomes-based metrics to provide an update on progress. I will be more than happy to meet her to discuss this.