Rural Bank Closures

Julian Sturdy Excerpts

Tuesday 21st February 2012 Westminster Hall

[Glyn Davies (Montgomeryshire) (Con)]

I have been a Member of the House for almost two years now, Mr Brady, and you have chaired a huge proportion of the proceedings in which I have taken part. It has always been a pleasure.

I, too, congratulate the hon. Member for Brecon and Radnorshire (Roger Williams) on securing today’s debate. He represents a neighbouring constituency to mine, and they are two of the most rural in Britain. One reason I did not prepare a speech for today was that I knew that I would only be repetitive. I could have filched the hon. Gentleman’s speech, and said pretty much the same, because our experiences are so similar. However, I want briefly to associate myself with the issue that he has raised, and with his remarks. All that I need to change is his references to Presteigne—although I represented it for eight years as a regional member in the National Assembly for Wales, so I know the town well. The point is that very few changes would need to be made in the speech to make it apply to my constituency and, I am sure, rural constituencies across Britain.

The hon. Member for Brecon and Radnorshire and I have worked together for many years on the issues in question, on the Development Board for Rural Wales, and in other contexts. Nearly all that work would come under the general heading of the defence and promotion of rural services. The way in which society has moved in the past half century has put enormous pressure on rural services, and that is a huge threat. Protecting and retaining those services has been incredibly difficult, and we shall not be able to retain and protect them all. However, that work has been a big part of my life, and of the hon. Gentleman’s life.

One of the reasons I have become so engaged with the issue in question is that I decided as a young man that I enjoyed living in the middle of Montgomeryshire and would never live anywhere else. I deeply love the place. All my fellow students from Llanfair Caereinion high school left the area to find work—we did not have any—and even at a young age I became very engaged in seeking to retain and develop our economy, as the key to providing employment that would encourage people to stay. There has been huge pressure across rural services, and the banks issue must be considered within that whole bracket. Rural schools close, because as families have fewer children there is pressure on them, and many village schools are closing. That is still happening and will continue; but what we do will affect the rate of closure. The same is happening with hospital services. Increased specialisation in skills and treatments means it is not possible to retain all rural hospitals. Some of them are closing, and, even more importantly, some of the services available in them are moving away. Transport is another serious issue, because of the acquisition of cars. There is not the same level of rural public transport that there used to be. I do not mean any criticism of the Welsh Government, but the grant for rural transport has been substantially reduced this year. The retention of transport links is strongly connected to the retention of banks; significant reductions are being made, with the result that services will be reduced.

Financial services are a key part of life today, whether those are provided by banks, building societies or post offices. People in rural areas, and perhaps in particular the elderly and the most vulnerable, who are not familiar with the internet or sometimes do not have access to it—because clearly broadband is not as effective in rural areas as it is in the areas now becoming used to it—do not have access to financial services. Yet the bank is crucial. When the last bank closes that is a death knell in the village. We must do all we can to retain those services where it is possible.

[Julian Sturdy (York Outer) (Con)]

My hon. Friend is making a powerful argument about local rural services. Shops are also suffering, because if cash points in villages are lost and people cannot get access to the cash, they do not spend it locally. That has an impact on local shops and on tourism in rural areas.

[Glyn Davies]

That is right. As we reduce spending power, every service goes. Each one affects the others.