Post Offices: Cash Withdrawal Services

Lord Stevenson of Balmacara Excerpts

Tuesday 22nd October 2019 Lords Chamber

[Lord Duncan of Springbank]

My noble friend asks a very good question. I will certainly have that discussion—and you never know.

[Lord Stevenson of Balmacara (Lab)]

My Lords, does this Question not also raise the problem about access to cash more generally? I am sure the Minister is familiar with the Access to Cash review. I wonder whether the department is in a position yet to respond to that. In that excellent review were six recommendations, which focused on the fact that new fintech is often designed for mass markets and does not reach out to the poor, those who live in rural communities and the vulnerable. Of the recommendations, the fifth and most important was for a clear government policy on cash, supported by a joined-up regulatory approach that treats cash as a utility, which I think is what the noble Lord was saying at the end. Is this in progress?

[Lord Duncan of Springbank]

I can assure the noble Lord that this is, indeed, in progress.