Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Financial Conduct Authority in tackling financial inclusion.

The Government works closely with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to ensure that people, regardless of their background or income, have access to useful and affordable financial products and services.

The FCA’s current and ongoing initiatives to improve financial inclusion - which include work on access to cash, access to credit and vulnerable consumers - demonstrate that it can already effectively support the Government’s financial inclusion agenda

The Government has also legislated to require the FCA to consult on the introduction of a duty of care owed by firms to consumers through the Financial Services Act 2021. The FCA has since consulted on the introduction of a new ‘Consumer Duty’, which seeks to set higher and clearer expectations for the standard of care firms should provide to consumers.