02 March 2023 , 12:57
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High street bank branch closures have hit “epidemic” proportions, MPs have been warned.
Shadow Digital Minister Alex Davies-Jones urged the Government to intervene so outlets are not “allowed to disappear completely”.
Calling on the Tories to “tackle the epidemic of high street bank closures”, she told the Commons that in the late 1980s, more than 20,000 bank branches were open across the UK.
“Today, just 5,000 bank branches remain - a 75% decrease since 1980. Since 2015 alone, well over 5,000 bank branches have closed,” she said.
“The unprecedented rate at which they are vanishing from the high street is not only holding local economies back, but making life challenging for the most vulnerable people in society who depend on easily accessible face-to-face banking.”
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She told of elderly people having to catch four buses during two-hour round trips to their nearest branch.
Labour MP for Pontypridd, Alex Davies-Jones (ROGER HARRIS PHOTOGRAPHY)In a boost for the Mirror’s High Street Fightback campaign, she highlighted the vital role branches play in their communities.
“Banks are more than just a place to withdraw cash - they are the centrepiece of our high streets, providing support for the community groups, small businesses and charities that rely on their presence,” she said.
“The impact of bank closures on our high streets will be - indeed, already is - truly devastating.”
Ms Davies-Jones said people “desperately need some sort of presence on our high street”, describing branches as “the lifeblood of local economies and, indeed, whole communities in constituencies such as mine”.
Labour’s Chris Elmore said there was just one bank left for 58,000 constituents in his seat of Ogmore, South Wales.
Opening a 30-minute parliamentary debate on branch closures, Ms Davies-Jones said charity shops were particularly badly hit because they handled small sums of petty cash.
She also highlighted how poor broadband connections often thwarted attempts at online banking - and some people still opted to pay for goods in cash.
Ogmore MP Chris Elmore (Western Mail)“The seemingly never-ending stream of high street bank closures is leaving behind the five million adults who still rely on cash to a significant extent for most of their purchases,” she told MPs.
“As the cost-of-living crisis continues to cause immense pressure for thousands of people across the country, there have been reports that cash usage has increased, not decreased, because it makes budgeting feel easier.
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“That makes the decline of high street banks even more worrying, and risks inflicting yet more misery on vulnerable people who are already struggling.”
The Labour MP for Pontypridd said the Financial Services and Markets Bill, currently going through the Lords, offered a chance for banks to “potentially share face-to-face branch services”.
But she added: “The exact mechanism for that is yet to be determined.”
Treasury Minister Andrew Griffith said falling demand for face-to-face banking from customers meant “banks and building societies have difficult decisions to make about how best to provide services to those who need them and to support communities”.
He added: “It is not the role of the Government to intervene in these decisions; nor do we have the powers to do so.”
But he insisted high streets “are of the utmost importance in towns throughout the country, they are the beating hearts of communities and form an intrinsic part of the social fabric of our cities, villages and communities”.
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