Credit Unions

Martin Rhodes Excerpts

Wednesday 16th July 2025 Westminster Hall

[Martin Rhodes (Glasgow North) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Twigg. I commend my hon. Friend the Member for Cumbernauld and Kirkintilloch (Katrina Murray) for securing the debate and for her speech highlighting the importance of credit unions, both now and in the future.

As financial co-operative organisations, credit unions are a force for good in many communities and workplaces. They exist to support their members, not to maximise profit. They encourage savings and provide financial education and affordable loans, all the while circulating the money within their membership communities, which are bound together through a common bond, often based on a workplace or location. More than ever, it is vital for that type of organisation to be available in communities that are currently struggling with the cost of living crisis and are vulnerable to predatory credit and debt organisations. It is the place of responsible Government to support these organisations and their efforts to promote financial inclusion, wellbeing and stability.

As already mentioned, there is variety and diversity in credit unions. There are large credit unions, such as Scotwest credit union in my constituency, which is one of the largest in the UK. It has over 36,000 members and, as of September 2024, a loan book of £68.9 million. It describes its mission as being focused on broadening financial inclusion, supporting members’ financial wellbeing and security, and strengthening local communities, all while promoting environmental sustainability through responsible lending and consumption. There are also local, community-based credit unions, such as Ruchill credit union, which was set up in my constituency, and workplace and employment-based credit unions, such as the Transport credit union in my constituency.

The diverse range of credit unions offers responsible lending while promoting co-operative values. That is why, as my hon. Friend the Member for Cumbernauld and Kirkintilloch mentioned, it is concerning to hear reports that the Financial Ombudsman Service, which is responsible for resolving disputes between financial institutions and their consumers, is using commercial lending rules to make legally binding judgments on credit unions.

The sector has raised concerns that credit unions are now being held to the Financial Conduct Authority’s consumer credit sourcebook rules, even though they do not legally apply to credit unions. As our credit unions are already under pressure and often based in low-income communities, that weakens the legal certainty and operational viability of the sector at a time when it is more necessary than ever.

[Chris Bloore (Redditch) (Lab)]

I congratulate my close friend, my hon. Friend the Member for Cumbernauld and Kirkintilloch (Katrina Murray), on securing this important debate. My hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow North (Martin Rhodes) made a powerful point about what happens in communities when credit unions go bust because they face huge regulatory burdens. My town, Redditch, has lost three credit unions over the last decade, meaning that because people cannot access financial support from the mainstream banks, they fall prey to speculative and very high-interest financial products from companies that should know better. Credit unions protect some of the most vulnerable people in our society.

[Martin Rhodes]

I agree that although we need robust regulation, we need to ensure that it is supportive of credit unions, particularly at a time when many communities need them more than ever and the challenge of organisations that seek to exploit vulnerable communities is very much at the fore.

Credit unions as institutions act as important protections against pernicious credit and debt systems such as buy now, pay later schemes. Since 2020, the market for buy now, pay later has more than quadrupled. There are reports of many in the UK getting into unsustainable debt because of balancing multiple buy now, pay later services to pay for essential groceries and other supplies. Unlike the work of credit unions, buy now, pay later schemes can use the cost of living crisis to market aggressively, targeting vulnerable consumers. They are often debt traps for the worst off in society.

While I support the Government’s planned new rules, which will ensure that buy now, pay later users will gain stronger rights and clearer protections, we must also do more to promote positive alternatives such as credit unions. These not-for-profit organisations exist to support their members, not to extract profit. They are local financial institutions that provide responsible lending and financial health advice, and they are safely regulated. In a world with loan sharks preying on the vulnerable, and tech companies creating debt prisons through unregulated consumer debt, we must support credit unions. If we do not, not just individuals but our economy and society will be worse off without them.

[Several hon. Members rose—]

Poverty: Glasgow North East

Martin Rhodes Excerpts

Tuesday 6th May 2025 Westminster Hall

[Martin Rhodes (Glasgow North) (Lab)]

It is a privilege to serve under your chairship, Ms Butler. I commend my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow North East (Maureen Burke) on securing this debate and on her heartfelt speech about the impact of poverty in her constituency. My constituency of Glasgow North, which adjoins hers, also faces many of the same factors that contribute to low life expectancy—factors that are clearly linked to poverty.

Recent data from the Office for National Statistics has shown that the average life expectancy in Glasgow North is 75.9 years, which is 8.7 years shorter than in the healthiest parts of the UK. However, in a way, that number also acts as a smokescreen. Because it is an average that includes the most affluent areas, it conceals the true life expectancy of the most deprived communities in my constituency. Where someone is born, where they live, and even which streets they grow up on, can help determine how long they live. Although the figures highlight a shocking level of health inequality, they ultimately reflect the deeper and more complex realities of poverty. Poverty does not come from one place; it stems from a web of economic, social and cultural factors. Those are shaped by issues related to class, health, social security, wages, job security, education, housing and access to credit, to name just a few. It is the way that those pressures interact, often reinforcing one another, that sustains the poverty that we see in Glasgow and across the country.

The history of place can accentuate those issues, Glasgow’s history being an example. The deindustrialisation of the city combined with the lack of necessary support, planning and investment in the late ’70s and ’80s led to mass unemployment and growing inequalities that are still felt in communities today. Although the previous Labour Government made great progress combating child poverty rates, that has not been sustained. Subsequent national policy choices and global events have only made those systemic issues of poverty worse, with the financial crash, the cuts to public services from Tory austerity and the long-term impact of a global pandemic hampering Glasgow’s prosperity.

Poverty can also create vicious cycles, which can appear in many different aspects of someone’s life. For example, if someone’s job is insecure, it is harder for them to afford stable housing. Without a fixed address, it is harder for them to access social security. Without that safety net, the risk of homelessness rises and the cycle continues. That is why it is not enough to talk about employment alone. We need to ensure that work provides security and pays a real living wage. I welcome this Government’s decision to uplift the minimum wage, a vital move that ensures that more people can earn enough to live with dignity. The Employment Rights Bill will go further, ending exploitative zero-hours contracts and helping to ensure that anyone in paid work has stability and protection.

But let us be clear: no single policy will solve poverty. What is needed is a joined-up approach—one that brings together housing, health, education, employment and social security. That is why the Government’s focus on building houses, improving the education system, restoring the NHS and promoting economic growth is vital to helping to deliver for those who are most vulnerable. I am also confident that the work of this Labour Government’s child poverty taskforce will be vital in delivering a cross-Government child poverty strategy to reduce and alleviate child poverty. That will be essential in improving children’s lives and life chances now and address the root causes of poverty in the long term.

Glasgow is a city of immense potential, rich in culture, talent and resilience. The fact that some of its communities have the lowest life expectancies in the UK is not an inevitability—it is the result of decisions taken in the past. If we make different choices, we can build a city and a country where every child has the opportunity to thrive and every community the chance to prosper. I look forward to hearing what the Minister has to say in her response.

Income Tax (Charge)

Martin Rhodes Excerpts

Monday 4th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Martin Rhodes (Glasgow North) (Lab)]

Because of the limits on time, I will mostly keep my comments to one sector of the economy: the cultural sector, which is very significant in the Glasgow North constituency.

I very much welcome the measures in the Budget to support the arts, culture and creative industries by implementing the 45% and 40% rates of theatre, orchestra, museum and galleries tax relief from April next year. Those measures, along with the Government’s recognition of the creative and arts sector’s contribution to the economy, are so important. That is particularly clear in my constituency, given the presence of important venues and institutions including Scottish Opera, King Tut’s, the National Theatre of Scotland, the Royal Conservatoire, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the Theatre Royal, the Pavilion, the King’s theatre, the Kelvingrove art galleries, the Hydro, the School of Art, the Mitchell library, BBC Studioworks, the Gallery of Modern Art, the Glasgow Royal concert hall, the Hunterian Museum and the Riverside Museum, to name just some.

It is very easy to think of the sector in terms of performers—dancers, singers, musicians; those on the stage and those in front of the cameras—but there are also very many skilled professionals employed in the sector: the sound technicians, the costume design teams, the camera operators, the lighting engineers, the archivists, the conservation experts, the prop makers and the stage managers, along with the teams in front of house, facilities, security and so on. The sector adds to the rich and diverse cultural life of the city, but it also adds to the local economy, drawing visitors to the city, employing thousands of people and creating customer demand for nearby businesses.

The Budget presented to the House last week delivers the largest settlement for the Scottish Government in the history of devolution. It is a clear and tangible sign of the importance of Scotland to this Government—a Government committed to delivering for Scotland and for all of the UK. This is how we deliver for working people: with the end of the era of austerity, raising much-needed cash for our under-resourced public services and delivering a pay rise for 200,000 of the lowest-paid Scots.

I recognise that much of policy on culture and the arts is devolved. With the record settlement in this Budget, it is time for the Scottish Government to play fair by the sector, and to finally end the blame game and end their waste and financial mismanagement. They have the powers and the resources; they need to deliver to ensure that the working people of Glasgow and Scotland truly benefit from this transformative Budget.