Question to the Scotland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what recent discussions he has had with the Royal Bank of Scotland on branch closures in Scotland.

I have met with RBS to discuss their recent announcements. Decisions on opening and closing branches and the format of the provision of service are taken by the management team of each bank on a commercial basis and the Government does not intervene in these decisions. The RBS Group retains its own board, which is responsible for these strategic and management decisions.