Question to the Scotland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what recent discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the effect on access to banking services of the Royal Bank of Scotland’s branch closure programme in Scotland.

The Royal Bank of Scotland’s decision to close bank branches, the format of the provision of service 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.

That is why Government supports the industry’s Access to Banking Standard, launched in May 2017, which 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.

The Post Office’s commercial agreement with 28 high street banks also ensures continued access to banking when a branch closes.

At Autumn Budget 2017, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury wrote to the Post Office and UK Finance to ask them to raise public awareness of these important services.

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.

In July, LINK announced it was cancelling its third interchange fee reduction, due in January 2020, and putting on hold its fourth reduction, due in January 2021, pending a further review next year. The Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) has welcomed these adjustments to future interchange rates, having stated that LINK must carefully review its decisions on interchange fees to reflect changing market conditions.

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