Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment HM Treasury has made of the adequacy of the access to cash framework established under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 in securing the long term future of banking hubs; and whether the Government plans to review its policy statement on access to cash.

The Government is committed to maintaining the viability of cash as a payment method for those who choose to use it. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has responsibility and powers to seek to ensure reasonable provision of access to cash withdrawal and deposit facilities.

The cash access policy statement, to which the FCA must have regard to when setting its rules, notes that the FCA should seek to ensure that at least 95% of people are within 1 mile of a cash access facility in urban areas and within 3 miles for rural areas. The latest data from the FCA shows it is meeting those distances. The FCA has committed to carry out a formal evaluation of its access to cash regime in due course.

The Government also understands the importance of banking services to communities and high streets and is committed to supporting the financial services industry’s roll-out of 350 banking hubs by the end of this Parliament. The Government has also commissioned an independent Review into Access to Banking Services, to assess whether changes in access to in-person banking services are causing consumer detriment and the scale of any detriment. 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.