Financial Inclusion

Tulip Siddiq Excerpts

Wednesday 22nd October 2025 Westminster Hall

[Martin Rhodes]

I certainly agree. Later in my speech, I will come on to the issues of access to cash and face-to-face financial services.

All the groups that I have mentioned face barriers, but an area of particular concern that I wish to focus on this morning is financial inclusion for disabled people. Much of my thinking on the issue has been informed by the hard work of the Advisory Group, or TAG, a Scottish charitable incorporated organisation run by and for people with disabilities and abilities. Glasgow TAG’s banking campaign steering committee came together in response to growing frustration among TAG members about how banking is excluding them, both in terms of access and in terms of treatment. They have highlighted to me the very real financial exclusion that they face in everyday life.

A key issue that the group has raised with me is access to cash. Many members rely on cash for daily budgeting. The shift to card-only businesses and the closure of free-to-use ATMs are leaving people unable to spend their own money. Quarriers, one of Scotland’s largest social care charities, reports that 76% of people with learning disabilities rely on support with their finances, and the same proportion use bank cards to withdraw cash. In my constituency, we have seen a 22% decrease in free-to-use ATMs between 2019 and 2025. This has created cash deserts, where communities are left without access to cash machines, and those that remain often charge for withdrawals or are inside premises with closing times. I hope that the Minister will engage with the issue and acknowledge the importance of continued free access to cash for financial inclusion.

The second issue that TAG has raised is discrimination in branches. TAG members have shared experiences of being ignored in favour of support workers, denied access to their own accounts or treated with suspicion. There is a strong feeling among TAG members who have spoken to me that financial institutions are not doing enough to meet their obligations under the Equality Act 2010. Will the Government consider supporting mandatory disability awareness and equality training in banking institutions, to help prevent such incidents?

[Tulip Siddiq (Hampstead and Highgate) (Lab)]

I thank my hon. Friend for bringing to the House this important topic, which is very close to my heart. I have had a lot of representations from disabled constituents in Hampstead and Highgate who are very worried about similar issues to those that he describes. They are also worried about the poverty premium in the insurance market, which I am sure my hon. Friend will touch on. Does he agree that any future inclusion strategy needs to address the poverty premium that exists in the insurance market, especially for our disabled constituents who have urged us to make a difference to their life?

[Martin Rhodes]

Yes, I agree that we need to look right across the whole range of financial services, including insurance, as well as those that we have touched on. Exclusion from one service can often lead to exclusion from another and then another. Failing to get access to one service means that people are less likely to get access to another, and the problem becomes greater.