Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what representations he has received from (a) parliamentarians and (b) members of the public on the closure of HSBC branches.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer and other Treasury Ministers receive numerous representations concerning the impact of bank branch closures, which are taken into consideration in the development of Government policy. However, decisions on the opening and closing of individual bank branches are taken by the management of each bank on a commercial basis without intervention from Government. Banks and building societies need to balance customer interests, market competition, and other commercial factors when considering their strategy.

The Government welcomed the industry-wide Access to Banking Protocol and Professor Russel Griggs’ recently published review evaluating the operation of the Protocol to date. The Government is pleased to see that the industry is committing to further improvements to protect those affected by bank branch closures.

Alternative banking services are also available at the Post Office. A new agreement with UK banks, announced on 24 January, means that more individuals and businesses can use 11,600 local Post Office branches to access a wider range of banking services.