Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that banks provide sufficient support to elderly and vulnerable customers to access their services.

The Government believes that everyone, wherever they live and especially the most vulnerable, should have access to essential banking services. Since 2017, the Post Office has had an agreement with the main high street banks, which enables 99% of personal banking customers and 95% of SME banking customers to carry out their everyday banking at any one of their 11,500 branches across the UK. The Government has invested over £2bn in the Post Office since 2010 to protect and maintain the network.

The Government also believes that having a bank account is key to enabling people to manage their money on a day-to-day basis effectively, securely and confidently. The nine largest personal current account providers in the UK must offer basic bank accounts to customers who do not have a bank account or who are not eligible for a bank's standard current account.