Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the Post Office network on maintaining access to in-person banking services in rural communities and towns where traditional bank branches have closed.

The Government is committed to ensuring that people who need in-person banking can continue to access essential services, including in rural communities and towns.

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 and the scale of any detriment.

As part of this, the Review will consider existing forms of in-person banking provision. The Post Office provides banking services 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.

The Chair of the Review will provide a report and recommendations to the Government upon its conclusion at which point the Government will consider any future actions.