Question to the Scotland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what discussions he has had with representatives of the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) on the potential effect on local communities of the proposed closure of RBS branches.

The Royal Bank of Scotland’s decision to close bank branches and publication of its data are commercial decisions for the Royal Bank of Scotland. However, the impact on communities must be understood, considered and mitigated where possible.

The industry’s Access to Banking Standard, launched in May 2017, commits banks to ensure personal and business customers are better informed about branch closures and the reasons for them closing, along with the options they have locally to continue to access banking services, including specialist assistance for customers who need more help. The Access to Banking Standard is monitored and enforced by the independent Lending Standards Board.

At Autumn Budget 2017, the Chancellor also wrote to the Post Office and UK Finance to ask them to raise public awareness of the banking services available at the Post Office for individuals and SMEs.

The Government is committed to widespread free access to cash. LINK, the organisation that runs the UK’s ATM network, operates a Financial Inclusion Programme, which subsidises ATMs in areas that have poor access to cash and would not otherwise be viable. LINK has committed to protecting all free-to-use ATMs which are a kilometre or more from the next nearest free-to-use ATM.

The Payment Systems Regulator Limited (PSR) has also committed to using their powers to maintain widespread free access to cash should they need to.