Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with representatives of the Financial Conduct Authority on free access to the UK cash network.

Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery.

Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel

The Government has been, and continues to be, closely engaged with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in developing its cash access proposals, including through the Joint Authorities Cash Strategy Group, which provides a forum for the public bodies to formally co-ordinate respective approaches to access to cash. The Group is chaired by HM Treasury and attended by the Bank of England, Payments Systems Regulator (PSR), and the FCA.

The Government has published a consultation on proposals for protecting access to cash for the long term. The Government proposes that the FCA becomes the lead regulator for oversight of the retail cash system with responsibility for monitoring and enforcing cash access requirements. Under the proposals, the FCA would be responsible for ensuring that facilities provide reasonable access in order to qualify for meeting geographic requirements. The FCA would be expected to take into account factors that reflect existing standards of cash access, including the appropriateness of facilities for vulnerable users, such as costs for end users, security, hours of availability and accessibility.

The consultation is open until 23 September 2021 and is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/access-to-cash-consultation