Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many branches of (a) banks and (b) building societies there were in the Yorkshire and the Humber region in (i) 2010 and (ii) 2020.

The Treasury does not make assessments of the bank and building society branch network. In 2018, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) undertook an analysis of branch closures as part of their Strategic Review of Retail Banking Business Models. This analysis can be found in Annex 1 of the final report.

The decision to close a branch is a commercial issue for the management team of the bank or building society. However, Government believes it is important the impact on communities must be understood, considered and mitigated where possible. That is why the Government continues to be very supportive of the Access to Banking Standard and the commitment it places on banks to minimise the impact of branch closures, including by ensuring that customers are aware of the alternative ways they can continue to access banking services. These include the Post Office, which allows 95% of business and 99% of personal banking customers to carry out their everyday banking at 11,500 Post Office branches across the UK.

In September 2020, the FCA published guidance setting out their expectation of firms when they are deciding to reduce their physical branches or the number of free-to-use ATMs. Firms are expected to carefully consider the impact of a planned closure on their customers’ everyday banking and cash access needs, and other relevant branch services and consider possible alternative access arrangements. This will ensure the implementation of closure decisions is done in a way that treats customers fairly.