Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, Vince Cable MP, has confirmed that his department is exploring the concept of community banking and has discussed the particular issues facing Wales as raised by Mick Bates in a recent debate in the National Assembly.
Mick Bates AM wrote to Vince Cable MP in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, following his short debate in National Assembly entitled ‘Helpful, local banking: A thing of the past for rural Wales?’ to highlight the problems caused by recent service cuts in Montgomeryshire and outline the case for developing community banking facilities in rural areas.
Commenting on the response from Vince Cable, Mr Bates said:
“I’m delighted that Vince Cable understands the problems caused by the closure of local bank branches and the potential impact on communities and has acted swiftly to explore the concept of community banking, which could offer an innovative solution to retain banking facilities in rural areas.
“Officials from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills have met with Mr Derek French, Director of the Campaign for Community Banking Services, with whom I have been working to highlight the plight of customers in Montgomeryshire, following the recent Natwest service cuts. My correspondence was passed on to Government officials so that the particular issues facing Wales were covered in the meeting.
“It is good news that the new Government is receptive to the concept of community banking, but there is still a long way to go to get the banks themselves onboard. We cannot give up and must continue to put pressure on all parties to prevent service cuts and closures of our local banking facilities. Tax payers’ money has been used to bail out many of these big banks and it is only fair that we get good service in return!”
