Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential role of the Post Office network in supporting access to banking services for small businesses and contributing to the sustainability of local high streets.

The Government understands the importance of banking services to communities and high streets, including those in rural and urban areas, and is committed to ensuring that people who need in-person banking can continue to access essential services.

That is why the Government commissioned an independent Review into Access to Banking Services, to assess whether changes to access to in-person banking services are causing consumer detriment, the scale of any detriment, and who it affects. The Review will consider access to in-person banking services for both personal and business customers.

As part of this, the Review will consider existing forms of in-person banking provision. The Post Office provides banking services across the UK to both personal and business customers through over 10,000 branches via the Banking Framework agreement and, as such, the provision of services by the Post Office on behalf of banks will be considered as part of the Review.

The evidence collected by the Review will inform future decisions on whether further action is needed. Alongside the Review, the Government intends to use the Financial Services and Markets Bill to introduce a power to allow action to be taken in future to protect access to banking services, should the evidence support intervention.