Official Report 1214KB pdf
The next item of business is a members’ business debate on motion S6M-19202, in the name of Craig Hoy, on regretting bank closures. The debate will be concluded without any question being put.
Motion debated,
That the Parliament regrets the latest round of bank closure announcements from Bank of Scotland and other operators across Scotland and the UK; further regrets what it sees as the failure to properly consult with customers and local businesses before closure decisions are taken; notes the calls for all high street bank operators to consider adopting a “branch promise” to halt future closures and to prevent banking deserts developing; expresses concern regarding what it sees as the fragile future of rural banking, including in the South Scotland region, and notes the calls for Link and Cash Access UK to do all they can to fully maintain access to cash and banking services when high street banks close branches.
12:51
The rate of bank closures is a concern to members across this chamber, and I thank MSPs who supported the motion on a cross-party basis. As someone who believes in the free market, this is not territory into which I tread readily. Banks are commercial entities—I accept that. They are free to make their own commercial decisions—I recognise that. However, they also have a duty to their customers, particularly older customers and small businesses, many of which operate in small towns and rural areas, and to those who are not digitally minded or who are digitally disadvantaged. All of those people and businesses need to have a convenient place in which to meet their banking needs.
Since being elected, I have heard far too often from constituents who feel that high street banks have abandoned them. This list of closures in South Scotland is far from exhaustive: Bank of Scotland, Annan, closing; TSB, Penicuik, closed; Bank of Scotland, Moffat, closing; Bank of Scotland, Sanquhar, closed; Bank of Scotland, Thornhill, closing; Bank of Scotland, Duns, closed; Yorkshire Building Society, Dumfries, closing; Bank of Scotland, Dunbar, closed; Bank of Scotland, Eyemouth, closed; Santander, Hawick, closed; Bank of Scotland, Jedburgh, closed; TSB, Hawick, closed; Bank of Scotland, Langholm, closed; Bank of Scotland, Newcastleton, closed; Barclays, Ayr, closed; Bank of Scotland, Castle Douglas, closing; Bank of Scotland, Newton Stewart, closed; TSB, Haddington, closed; Barclays, Dumfries, closed; Royal Bank of Scotland, Tranent, closed; Bank of Scotland, North Berwick, closed; Bank of Scotland, Peebles, closed; TSB, North Berwick, closed; Bank of Scotland, Hawick, closed; Bank of Scotland, Selkirk, closed; and TSB, Selkirk, closed. In too many cases, those closures were the closure of the last bank in town.
I accept that this is a complex issue and that those closures are taking place in a regulated sector where the operating environment is changing fast, but banks make a great virtue of their environmental, social and governance credentials—indeed, the S in ESG reflects their duty to society. They say that they have a duty to support their customers and the communities that they serve, but that is all too often ignored when banks leave our high streets and simply pass the responsibility to Link and Cash Access UK.
Regulation of the banking and financial sector is reserved to Westminster, and I have been working with colleagues there on what needs to be done to reform how cash access assessments are determined. The current legislation and regulations are too blunt and fully fail to take account of special circumstances.
The issues that Craig Hoy outlines are reflected in Highland Perthshire, which is part of the area that I represent, and in many other parts of the country. There is also frustration that applications for banking hubs, which are a very valuable resource, are not being granted because of strict criteria. I have written to the Financial Conduct Authority about that. Does he agree that the FCA needs to revise its rules on where a banking hub can be granted?
I agree with Mr Fraser, particularly in relation to rural areas where the problem is most acute. For example, certain towns have high seasonal demand for cash or have particular demographics, and the current criteria do not reflect that.
That is definitely the case in Moffat in Dumfriesshire, where, in less than three weeks’ time, the Bank of Scotland will close its doors for the last time. That will leave this vibrant tourist and retirement town without a bank, an easily accessible high street ATM or a banking hub. The community is rightly concerned, and I commend Evelyn Atkins—who is in the gallery with her husband Bryan today—for leading the community campaign against the branch closure. Evelyn first asked for my support when she came into the bar at the Famous Star Hotel on a Saturday night to seek signatures for her petition. Through her hard work and tenacity, Evelyn secured more than 3,000 signatures, and her petition was recently presented in the House of Commons by my colleague David Mundell MP.
Moffat is a small town, but it has a large number of visitors and several cash-only businesses. Evelyn spent her career in banking and she is someone who understands what community banking should look like. However, despite the petition, several rallies, a public meeting held in conjunction with Age Scotland and, most recently, a meeting with a representative from the Bank of Scotland, held here in the Parliament with Oliver Mundell, the Bank of Scotland has refused to change course. Link Scheme believes that an upgrade to the post office provision will be sufficient, but many local businesses and residents disagree, and they now face a 42-mile round trip to Dumfries to access a bricks-and-mortar branch.
Digital banks might work for some and banking hubs might work for others. Community bankers visiting communities once a fortnight, for example, might be sufficient for some customers, but, for many, a traditional bricks-and-mortar high street bank remains a lifeline—often one that is used in times of distress, such as when scams are occurring.
The sad thing is that it does not have to be like that. I recently met the teams at Virgin Money and Nationwide in Dumfries, and they talked to me about their 2028 branch promise. As part of the merger agreement, every Nationwide and Virgin Money branch will stay open until at least 2028. Virgin Money also offers free accounts to community groups—a service that is, sadly, being withdrawn by other banks, which now charge for such accounts.
However, it is not all bad news, and let me offer praise where it is due. Alongside David Mundell and Councillor Julie Pirone, I was recently contacted by the Peebles Community Trust after the closure of the Bank of Scotland branch in the town. The trust sought our support to acquire the building, and I am pleased to confirm that, this week, it has been successful in its bid. That will let the trust move its reuse hub there and create space for a future banking hub, if Link Scheme determines that that would be necessary. The bank closure is regrettable, but I welcome the legacy move by the bank.
I believe that this debate will show that bank branches are a lifeline for many, and I hope that the Scottish Government will do everything that it can to persuade banks to remain visible on Scotland’s high streets.
I will close with a direct appeal to the Bank of Scotland in Moffat. This is a special case, and those who know the town understand its unique needs. The closure is imminent, but the decision is not irreversible. I recognise that banks need to be commercially viable, but they have a duty to look after the communities that they represent. The pace of change is simply too fast for some, and the rate of closures is too high. Those customers have stood by their banks for decades. Their savings allowed the banks to lend, and public money bailed out the banks in 2008, but, sadly, for too many communities, those banks are now bailing on them.
I look forward to listening to contributions to the debate from colleagues from around the country. I just hope that bank bosses are listening, too.
There is an awful lot of interest in participating in this debate, and I am keen to ensure that every member gets a chance to speak and their full allocation of time. I am also conscious that we are due to resume business at 2 o’clock, and staff will need time to prepare the chamber ahead of that, so I ask members to stick rigidly to their time allocation.
I call Jamie Hepburn, to be followed by Liam Kerr, to speak for up to four minutes.
12:59
I thank Craig Hoy for lodging the motion. I very much agree with its premise. The notion of a branch promise, as he states in his motion, is very much worthy of consideration.
Thankfully, the Bank of Scotland branch in Cumbernauld is not one of the 13 that is set to close. However, my area has been hit hard by bank closures over a number of years—I will come back to that. Indeed, there will be very few of us, at best, who have not been impacted by those challenges.
To set the overall context, on 29 September, Which? magazine laid out the scale of the change that we have seen over the past decade, since January 2015. Across the United Kingdom, banks and building societies have closed 6,561 branches at a rate of around 53 a month. That represents 66 per cent of the branches that were open at the start of 2015.
In Scotland, the issue has been particularly acute. Scotland was the first area of the UK to experience the loss of more than half of its retail banks in that period. Of its 1,041 branches, 719 are now gone, and another 21 are set to go. That is 740 branches—or 71 per cent of the total number of retail banks that were in place in January 2015.
I do not want to overly politicise my comments today, because the debate is primarily an opportunity to set out a constituency concern, but it is also about how banks are regulated. Regulation remains in the hands of the UK Government. I observe that Mr Hoy’s party was in government for almost the entirety of the previous decade, although we see the trend continuing under the Labour Government.
I will talk about the local angle, as I think most members will do today. In 2017, we saw the closure of the Royal Bank of Scotland branch in Kilsyth. I should declare an interest as an account holder with the Royal Bank of Scotland. In 2020, we saw the closure of TSB in Kilsyth, which left Kilsyth, a town of more than 10,000 people, without a single retail bank.
In 2022, Clydesdale Bank—I am sentimental, Presiding Officer; I will call it Clydesdale Bank rather than Virgin Money—closed its branch in Cumbernauld. Again, I should declare an interest as an account holder there. In 2024, we saw the closure of the Royal Bank of Scotland branch in Cumbernauld town centre, which followed an earlier closure of another branch in the town. Most recently, in 2025, we saw the closure of Santander in Cumbernauld. I was recently in discussion with a constituent who talked about having moved their account from Clydesdale, because it closed in the area, to Santander, only then to face the loss of their local bank again.
As Mr Hoy said, the challenge is particularly acute in rural areas, but it impacts urban Scotland as well.
I will now focus on what might be an opportunity. It is not often that I agree with Murdo Fraser, who has now left the chamber, but I support the notion of banking hubs. I think that they could serve as an opportunity to pick up where we have lost some of the—
Will the member take an intervention?
I do not think that I have time, Mr Carson. I have to close and I want to make this point. Banking hubs can provide an opportunity to replace the retail banking on our high streets that we have lost. However, I agree with Murdo Fraser that some of the regulation around them is too strict. It focuses on access to cash, but retail banks offer much more than that. I would very much like community banking hubs to be established in both Kilsyth and Cumbernauld, and that is something that I will continue to call for.
13:03
I am grateful to Craig Hoy for securing the debate. Bank closures are something that we are all too familiar with in Aberdeen. The lower Deeside area, which is a roughly 8-mile corridor between Anderson Drive and Peterculter, used to have eight banks. It now has none. All the communities in that 8-mile corridor, including Cults, Bieldside, Milltimber and Peterculter, are without a bank.
Imagine an older person with suspicions about the internet and phone banking, having seen all the fraud warnings; someone who is wary of banking apps with their artificial intelligence-driven helpdesk; one of the many businesses in that corridor that need to bank cash or withdraw a float; or someone who just needs to speak face to face with a staff member. Their nearest banks are at Banchory, which is a 35-minute bus ride from Bieldside—the midpoint of that 8-mile corridor—or at Queen’s Cross in Aberdeen, which is an hour-long trek involving two buses.
Craig Hoy’s motion calls for Link to do all that it can to maintain access, and rightly so. Link is a not-for-profit operation that, among other things,
“has a public interest objective to protect access to cash across the UK.”
One of its key roles, which is peppered through all its communications, is “financial inclusion”, to which end it runs a “financial inclusion programme” and
“supports the rollout of shared banking hubs in areas affected by bank branch closures”.
Will the member give way?
I really do not have time—sorry.
It says that the location of banking hubs will be considered based on things such as distance to nearest cash services, and vulnerability and digital exclusion.
So is Link doing all that it can to ensure the financial inclusion of lower Deeside? Er, no. After an approach from Cults, Bieldside and Milltimber community council for a banking hub was rejected by Link, I got involved. I wrote to Link and pointed out that I speak to constituents every week at surgeries, in shops and on doorsteps, and they are telling me just how deeply they are affected by the loss of local banking services. Many are elderly, isolated and living with mobility issues. They are frightened of the internet, distrustful of online banking and increasingly cut off from the financial services that they once relied on. One woman in Culter told me that she had to ask neighbours to withdraw cash for her because she cannot manage the bus journeys. Another in Milltimber has not spoken to a bank employee in more than a year and feels invisible.
I pointed out to Link that its response to the community council assessment was fundamentally flawed in its scope, substance and assertions. Link reviewed my correspondence, rejected my evidence and concluded:
“This is my final response ... if you remain dissatisfied ... you can refer the matter to the Independent Assessor”,
whose role is to review the handling of the complaint, not the decision. Link has washed its hands.
I am dissatisfied, as are my constituents, because Link’s decision is based on a fundamental misunderstanding; does nothing for financial inclusion and everything for abandoning my communities; and looks like a classic piece of decision making by a body that has no base in—or, indeed, any knowledge of—the north-east.
I recently set up a petition that would show the strength of local support. It has hundreds of local signatures already. I have been contacted by local facilities, such as the churches and the Cults library team, offering to host a banking hub.
Let me be blunt: Link, there is a big local petition coming your way, with a reiteration of why your decision is so flawed and detail of some of the solutions that will make it easy to get to yes.
It is deeply regrettable that Link has failed to deliver the banking hub that is so desperately needed. However, I am sure that, once it has seen this debate, received my petition and reconsidered the arguments, it will choose to do the right thing by lower Deeside and give us the banking hub that we desperately need.
13:08
I sincerely thank Craig Hoy for bringing this matter to the chamber, because I agree 100 per cent with every word that he said.
Among other towns across Scotland, Larkhall, in my constituency, will be losing its high street bank, to the detriment of thousands of constituents and hundreds of businesses. In my interactions with the Bank of Scotland and Link, I was disappointed by their lack of compassion and understanding. Even when I proved to them that their assessment was wrong, they just shrugged their shoulders.
That loss will have the biggest impact on the most vulnerable in society, especially the elderly, who are most dependent on in-person services. Remember that, when the banks were on their knees, the Bank of Scotland understood perfectly what banks were—a necessity for the people. In 2008, we, the public—including all of us here—contributed to the £17 billion bailout. In addition, further loans were guaranteed for billions by the UK Government. There was a decision not to abandon them. However, they have abandoned us. They are abandoning Scotland’s high streets and semi-rural towns, putting shareholders and personal bonuses in front of long-standing customers. It is morally bankrupt.
Clearly, the free rein that banks have enjoyed in being governed by the old boy network has gone on for far too long. Their power has been abused, as the banks cannot be counted on to act in the best interest of their customers or of the economy. I whole-heartedly join the calls made in this motion—that banks should be compelled to keep existing branches open and to serve the community that ultimately supported them when they were almost down and out.
I also want to expose the fallacy that Link, the banks’ so-called independent assessor for these matters, is independent. Bank of Scotland cards say Link on them. In the discussions that I have had with Link, it has basically said, “I’ll need to get back to the bank.” When we speak to the bank, it says, “We’ll get back to Link.” They are all part of the same gang, and Link is just doing its bidding as instructed. Allowing banks to do as they wish should no longer be tolerated. We should use the powers that we have in the Scottish Parliament. We and our local authorities should take the banking that we do away from the banks that are doing this to our local communities.
13:11
I congratulate Craig Hoy on securing the debate. Local banks are often a hub for many people, especially in small, close-knit communities. They are part of the social fabric of rural communities that is sadly ebbing away.
According to the Link group, some 2,209 bank branches have closed across the UK since February 2022, with around 233 of those in Scotland. There have been 40 closures in the Highlands and Islands region in that time. The number of branches closing has increased year on year up to 2025, although the number of closures has dropped this year—I suspect that that is because there are barely any branches left to close. Even just a few months ago, it was announced that Lloyds Banking Group was closing four of its Bank of Scotland branches, in Nairn, Dingwall, Gairloch and Tain. Communities are facing fewer and fewer banking options.
Although I welcome the work that groups such as Link and Cash Access UK do to step in when the big banks leave local communities, many of my constituents feel that the solutions are not adequate. Since 2022, Link has recommended that some 33 banking hubs be established across Scotland, but just three of those are in the Highlands and Islands region. When a hub has not been recommended, other, lesser alternatives have been suggested, such as a new ATM, a new assisted cash service and assisted counter services such as the cash hub in Lossiemouth town hall. Again, only on three occasions have communities in my region benefited from some of those alternatives. In fairness to Link, many of the impacted communities have local post offices, and I welcome the role that they play in stepping to fill the void that is left by bank branch closures. However, although post offices offer a range of services, they do not fully make up for the loss in expertise and enhanced services that disappear when a bank branch closes.
One constituent contacted me about their Bank of Scotland branch closing in Dingwall. They told me that their local branch is a
“lifeline to many older people”
and that the Bank of Scotland
“make you feel like it is an offence nowadays to do your transactions using a cashier at a desk.”
Although I welcome the measures that are being taken by some banks, such as Nationwide’s pledge not to close any branches until at least 2028 and Barclays halting closures for 2025 and 2026, the sad truth is that more closures will come unless banks figure out ways to diversify their branch offering and be more involved in their communities in order to increase footfall. That might seem like wishful thinking, but it should not be impossible for major banks to do things differently and to do more to protect the local bank branch rather than just concede and shut up shop.
This is about more than just bank branches closing. The closure of bank branches is one more reason for rural depopulation. The loss of such services in our small rural towns and villages is one more reason for people to leave and for people not to move into those areas in their place. We must do more to reverse this trend.
13:14
I thank Craig Hoy for securing this afternoon’s debate. As some members may know, I started my career with the TSB in Haddington. After a few years, I moved to the Bank of Scotland at the bottom of Morningside Road. I spent 22 years in the banking sector, working first as a financial adviser and then working in business and corporate banking. When I was in the Morningside branch, about 45 to 50 people worked in the branch, from the cash desk to business banking and customer inquiries. I remember the Thursday afternoon rush of people coming in with pay cheques and withdrawing cash. The rush around the Edinburgh trades holiday was also very busy—but that is enough reminiscing about the 1980s from me. Times have changed, with technology having changed dramatically and footfall in branches having dropped. The Morningside branch now has around six to eight members of staff compared with the 50 that I mentioned.
What can we do to tackle bank closures? Of course, we can all campaign to save bank branches—we have heard about that from many members in the debate—and sometimes the last one in town. As has been mentioned, all the towns in East Lothian have seen branch closures by all the banks. In October last year, my team and I contacted Link about bank closures in Dunbar, North Berwick and Tranent. Link is the co-ordination body that conducts assessments when there is a change in the level of cash access in a community, and it recommends new services when required. It has assessed the bank closures in East Lothian towns and villages. New rules on that were brought in around October last year.
Having submitted applications for North Berwick, Dunbar and Haddington, I was extremely pleased that new banking hubs were recommended for North Berwick and Dunbar. We continue to push for a hub in Tranent through Cash Access UK, which was asked to take forward the proposals. Public meetings were held in North Berwick, which Mr Hoy and I both attended, and members of the public were able to ask questions. I am delighted to say that the banking hubs are now open in North Berwick and Dunbar. The North Berwick one is in the old Bank of Scotland building.
I join Paul McLennan in welcoming the Dunbar and North Berwick banking hubs. However, does he share my concern that the hubs are not being fully utilised? On the two days when I last visited the Dunbar hub, there was no community banking facility in it. Will he join me in encouraging banks to use and take up the capacity of banking hubs?
Yes. Like Mr Hoy, I have visited the hubs and that issue has been raised. It is good that the hub in Dunbar is now moving to a permanent home, which I think means that there will be more bank representation in it. The permanent home will be open in the next few weeks and is in a renovated building that has not been used for a number of years.
Banking hubs help our business communities, and lots of businesses at the North Berwick meeting welcomed the hub there. Hubs support people who suffer from digital exclusion, and they provide key support for our communities. Let us all campaign against bank closures when we can, but let us also campaign for banking hubs and the support that they bring to our communities. One obvious solution is to bring banking regulation to Scotland under independence, so that we can make decisions that affect our own communities.
13:17
I thank my colleague Craig Hoy for securing this important debate on bank closures.
Since 2012, 6,000 bank branches across the United Kingdom have been closed. The most recent sad casualty is the Bank of Scotland branch in Hawick. That closure is a severe blow to customers, who have expressed shock and disappointment. A banking hub is proposed, which I welcome. If it works, that will be great, but constituents have said that they are concerned about the privacy of a banking hub. That is especially worrying for older customers in the current climate of scams and fraudulent activity—it is no wonder that they are worried.
My colleague Liam Kerr spoke about a constituent asking a neighbour to withdraw cash for her. I find that incredibly concerning, yet she is not alone in doing that. A partially sighted constituent to whom I spoke on the doorstep told me that she had given her banking card to a trusted friend, who took it to Berwick to get cash because there was no cash left at the local ATM at the Co-op in Eyemouth. That is incredibly worrying.
The closure in Hawick marks the eighth bank branch closure in the Borders since 2022, following closures—as Craig Hoy has said—in Eyemouth, Selkirk, Jedburgh and Duns. The common factor of those places is that they are small rural towns, and the closures have affected people who are the most vulnerable, including those who are over 65, nearly half of whom still rely on a physical banking service.
With the demise of our high streets, the minister should be concerned about the closures, because they are part of an ever-decreasing circle. Retailers and tourism businesses are closing, too, and the lack of access to cash does not help them, because small retailers still rely on cash, and people use cash because they want to be able to budget.
I agree with my colleague Craig Hoy about the limitations of the Financial Conduct Authority, which I met in London. Clearly, as we have all agreed today, many of the solutions are reserved. Nevertheless, we must ask the Labour Government to give more powers to the FCA, so that it can protect cash access in rural areas by reforming the access criteria so that they take more practical account of the challenges faced in those areas. Many of the problems lie in the assessment of the distance threshold for transport links and accessibility. Predominantly, relevant distances in urban areas are assessed as being within a mile, where at least 95 per cent of people will live, but we all know that that is not how rural towns operate. Rural towns also face challenges because commercial bus companies cannot operate viably there and so are withdrawing services, which means that the threshold is not relevant.
I pay tribute to a wonderful retired schoolteacher from Eyemouth, Margaret Carey, who has campaigned vigorously to get access to cash there.
Communities must also be empowered to have a realistic chance of making their case about the challenges in rural areas when they appeal decisions. It is extraordinary that communities are not consulted prior to decisions being made to close banking services.
I will continue to campaign to keep access to cash alive and to keep banks on the high street.
13:21
I congratulate Craig Hoy on securing this debate on an important matter that is, unfortunately, affecting a growing number of my constituents.
Saltcoats has been left with only one bank branch providing in-person banking services after the closure of Santander’s Chapelwell Street branch on 21 July. The situation is made worse by the fact that Saltcoats post office, also on Chapelwell Street, remains under threat, as it is a facility that banks often point to for basic banking facilities when they close branches.
Largs, a town of more than 11,000 inhabitants, with a sizeable number of tourists and day trippers, will be left with no bank at all when the Bank of Scotland shuts its Main Street premises in March. The loss will be keenly felt by residents and local businesses, and it will follow Royal Bank of Scotland, TSB and Clydesdale Bank closures. Whenever bank closures are imposed in my constituency, I contact bank executives to urge them to reconsider—as, I suspect, many members have done when their constituencies have been affected. However, it is always to no avail.
The new assisted cash facility recommended for Largs is welcome, but it is certainly not a substitute for bank branches that give customers access to friendly, face-to-face services and advice five or six days a week. According to the Bank of Scotland’s own figures, one third of its Largs customers rely on face-to-face banking services. Although I do not deny that the future of banking will be increasingly online—pushed by the banks themselves, of course—many customers, mostly the elderly and vulnerable, simply do not feel comfortable using online banking, especially given the prevalence of scams and cybercrime. A Newcastle Building Society study found that half of people aged 27 to 42 would also, in fact, rather visit the local bank branch if such a thing existed, to speak face to face instead of managing all their personal finances online.
Myriad constituents have been in touch to say that the decline of face-to-face banking is being portrayed as customer choice when, in fact, it reflects the bank’s own efforts to steer customers towards digital services. In Saltcoats, the bank said that it was about a lack of footfall, but I do not recall a time when I went to Saltcoats Clydesdale Bank, as it was, and there was not a half-hour-long queue to get served. I think that the footfall argument is often nonsense. The rush towards digital-only services has made it increasingly clear that communities such as Largs, Saltcoats and the Garnock Valley, where seven branches were extant a year ago, are being left behind by the banks.
The Labour Party is strong on rhetoric and opposition but abysmal on delivery in government. One of Labour’s 20 pledges to businesses was to stop bank branch closures. Its plan for financial services stated that it will
“accelerate the roll out of at least 350 ‘banking hubs’ which help people have free access to cash and wider banking services”.
As of today, I have yet to see a single banking hub open in my constituency—and it is not for the want of trying. When I contacted Link to request a banking hub for Largs, I was told that, because only 8,996 adults live near the high street, rather than the arbitrary figure of 10,000, it does not recommend a hub. Link is regulated by the UK Government’s Financial Conduct Authority, and its remit is limited to assessing access to cash, not wider banking services. The lack of a bank on the neighbouring island of Cumbrae was not taken into consideration either.
Frustratingly, powers over banking have never been devolved to the Scottish Parliament. During the passage of the UK Financial Services and Markets Act 2023, Labour MPs tabled amendments to introduce new clauses to enable the FCA to ensure access to banking services. However, the UK Conservative Government did not support the amendments, and the litany of bank closures that was read out by Craig Hoy transpired primarily when the Tories were in office. After nearly 16 months of a UK Labour Government, Scotland is seeing more and more bank branches close their doors forever.
People are seeing their high street bank branches disappear at an alarming rate, just as they have seen happen with their post offices. Although there is no magic bullet to reverse the trend, I urge Scottish ministers to work with Link and the UK Government to change the arbitrary population thresholds and to finally extend the FCA’s powers to include access to wider banking services.
13:25
I congratulate Craig Hoy on bringing this debate to the Parliament, given the recent closures by the Bank of Scotland. My region, like his, is affected by these closures, and, as in his region, the closure of branches will cause real challenges for the many people whose local bank branch is increasingly far away and not so local any more.
The south of Scotland and the Highlands share more similarities than is often recognised. They both contain networks of smaller towns, many distant from each other, that still act as true commercial centres for their surrounding areas. They are places where small businesses are the lifeblood of our local economies, but the reality is that our lower population densities often mean that we are the first to lose out when services are centralised.
Although, in many ways, progress through technology has reduced some of the challenges of rurality, it has also created conditions that have allowed these communities to be left even more isolated than before. Only last year, I spoke in a members’ business debate brought by Rhoda Grant on the reduction of mobile banking services across the Highlands and Islands. As I mentioned then, I had previously participated in Dean Lockhart’s members’ business debate on the removal of cash machines, and I was a member of the Economy, Jobs and Fair Work Committee when it carried out an inquiry into bank closures in 2018. My concern is that we often focus on the alternatives, such as ATMs, online banking and mobile branches, only to find ourselves debating the loss of such alternatives at some point further down the line. That is simply not good enough.
Both the Scottish and the UK Governments have spoken of the importance of high streets and town centres, not only as the basis for retail but as focal points for communities—places to access public services and spaces where we can enjoy meeting each other. However, this further round of closures, coming after so many previous losses, demonstrates that the hollowing out of these places is continuing at pace. I do recognise that high streets and town centres will change and adapt in response to consumer needs, and that this cannot be a wholly one-sided appeal to preserve these areas in time. Increasingly, however, consumer needs—particularly those of our older residents, as Craig Hoy highlighted—are simply not being catered for in regions such as mine.
I welcome the action to promote and increase the number of banking hubs by Cash Access UK, with the co-operation of the major banks and the Post Office. Two such hubs now exist in my region—one in Forres, and, since only the summer, a new one in Wick. Both have been well received, even if it is clear that—
Will the member take an intervention?
I will when I finish this point.
Both hubs have been well received, even if it is clear that some people remain unaware of the breadth of services that they offer. We must watch closely to see whether they become a truly viable and sustainable alternative and are able to grow at the pace that has been suggested. I, for one, would like to see more hubs across the region.
I put on record my thanks to campaigners who have been successful in getting banking hubs opened in Kirkcudbright and Newton Stewart in the past 12 months. Link was asked to review how it assesses these banking hubs, but that process still needs to be firmed up.
I ask the member to join me in calling on the FCA to consider a mandatory review of access to cash in towns before the last bank closes, to ensure that decisions in relation to towns such as Dalbeattie—the biggest town in Stewartry, which has been without a bank or a banking hub for some time—are reviewed again. I have been successful in the past month—
Be brief, Mr Carson.
—in getting decisions in relation to Dalbeattie and Wigtown reviewed. We need that process to be introduced.
Thank you, Mr Carson. Jamie Halcro Johnston, I can give you some of that time back.
Thank you—that is very generous of you, Presiding Officer. I certainly agree with Mr Carson, and, from the response that his intervention got on these benches, I think that that view is held more widely.
Just as significant is the Post Office network, which provides basic banking services in its branches. Even when sub-post offices close, pop-up branches such as the one that I was in only last Thursday, and which serves my home parish of Orphir in Orkney, continue to play an important role. In part, post offices across the UK have been protected by their access criteria, alongside a great deal of political will and continued commercial interests.
In many situations, however, it is only after those local services are lost that we appreciate their true value. The chief function of a face-to-face bank or Post Office branch might be to process transactions or do business, but how many banks have spotted customers being subject to identity fraud or scams? How many have been first to notice other financial crimes such as undue influence being exerted on a vulnerable person? How many play, or have played, an important social role in communities like those across my region? Access to cash is not, and cannot be, our only concern.
While the world is changing, there remains a need for face-to-face banking services, if not in bank branches in every village, at least somewhere that enables people to reasonably access cash when it is needed.
13:30
I congratulate Craig Hoy on securing this important debate on bank closures.
Banks are more than just buildings; they are the focal point of our communities. The bank is where local businesses deposit their takings, where elderly residents manage their finances in person and where people can ask for advice or seek reassurance without resorting to an app or waiting in a frustrating telephone queue. In my region of Central Scotland, Bank of Scotland has announced the closure of branches in Bellshill, Larkhall and Grangemouth. I must declare an interest at this point, as I am a Bank of Scotland account holder and a customer of the Bellshill branch.
It is the perception of local people that banks are deciding on their behalf how customers should bank, and that is simply not acceptable. There are petitions under way across the region in an attempt to save those banks from closure in January 2026, and I urge residents in affected areas to look at those petitions and make their voices heard by signing them and opposing those closures.
Last Monday, I joined Councillor Richard Nelson, who organised a public meeting in the Larkhall area, to talk about how the community can work together to stop the closure. Banking hubs were mentioned, but it will come as no surprise to members in the chamber that, again, a banking hub for Larkhall has been refused.
I felt that the public meeting was very productive, and I note that the petition started by Councillor Nelson has already attracted more than 500 signatures. If Davy Russell would be so kind as to sign that petition and share it, we can work cross-party to stop the closure of the Bank of Scotland branch in Larkhall. The petition shows the level of interest from local people in stopping the expansion of bank deserts across Lanarkshire and other areas.
One petitioner who signed the petition has commented publicly that,
“As a pensioner with a husband who has dementia it’s difficult enough to deal with daily life without having to travel further afield to use a bank or lift money. I live in Stonehouse and have to travel to Larkhall to use a bank and now you are going to close it, I and my husband have banked with you for over 65 years and I hope you will reconsider and keep this branch open or better still give us a banking hub in Stonehouse”.
That petitioner is absolutely bang on the money with the points that she has raised.
Another interesting point that was raised during the public meeting was the semi-rurality of the area when it comes to residents in Lanarkshire trying to use public transport to reach the next nearest town where a bank has not been earmarked for closure. Only 32 per cent of households in Ashgill and Netherburn, and 45 per cent in central Larkhall, are within a 10-minute walk of high-frequency public transport, so closing the Larkhall branch will increase travel barriers for people. In my view, few or no impact assessments have been carried out on deprivation, digital exclusion or proximity to the nearest local branch.
Councillor Nelson has since written to Lloyds Banking Group asking for the decision to be reviewed. I back his calls and will continue to work with him and the local community to overturn the decision.
Turning briefly to the bank closure in Bellshill, I note that Lanarkshire Law Estate Agents, a firm of estate agents and solicitors, has picked up the mantle and started a petition, which, again, has attracted well over 500 signatures. I put on the record my thanks to the firm for the work that it is doing on behalf of the Bellshill community.
I want to close on this point: banking groups will lose custom if they continue to close branches in areas, as people have had enough of being forced to go digital by going cashless. That is why I back the calls today from my colleague, Craig Hoy, in seeking to raise the issue of bank closures and the need to investigate solutions to ensure that Scotland does not become a banking desert.
13:34
I pay tribute to Craig Hoy for securing this debate on high street banks in Scotland, the rate of closures and some of the issues that arise. Clearly, the concerns that he outlined are very familiar to many members around the country—particularly to those of us in more rural constituencies, such as myself, as the representative of Moray.
I remember a report from a few years ago that said that Moray was the hardest-hit constituency when it came to bank closures. Although we now have a banking hub in Forres and a cash hub in Lossiemouth, we have only one high street bank left outside of Elgin, which is in Keith. I therefore associate myself with Craig Hoy’s tribute to Virgin Money, whose bank branch that is.
Within the past couple of weeks, I have met Alison Moffat, Adam Featch and their great team there. I learned about Virgin Money’s banking promise, which has been outlined, to keep the branch open until early 2028, and about all the various services that are delivered there, including supporting customers with dementia, issuing SIM cards to people who are unable to have connectivity, helping people who have experience of domestic abuse, and providing other services such as working with local schools on entrepreneurial, banking and financial skills. The work that is being carrying out is tremendous. As others have said, it is a good example for other high street banks to follow.
I certainly share the concerns that have been expressed by many members. Jamie Hepburn outlined some of the stark statistics about the rate of bank closures in Scotland in recent years. Although the regulation of financial services is a reserved matter, the Scottish Government has been proactive in our engagements with the sector and with the regulator to advocate for Scotland’s interests. The issue has been debated and raised in the chamber many times.
The Government welcomes the FCA’s new regulatory powers on access to cash, which came into force in 2024. Ahead of the implementation of those rules, the Scottish Government provided feedback during the consultation process, which helped to lead the FCA to amend its definitions of “urban” and “rural” in the Scottish context, in recognition of our unique geography and the challenges that are faced in particular by rural and island communities, as members have mentioned.
We have also taken some practical steps. At this time last year, I convened a cross-party round table on access to cash and banking services, which brought together the FCA, Link, Cash Access UK, the Post Office and members from across the parties and which helped us all to get a shared understanding of the new rules that were coming in at that time. Under the new FCA rules, anyone who is concerned about access to cash in their area can make a cash access request to Link. There is also a right to appeal following an assessment decision. Of course, there are important safeguards, and I encourage individuals and community representatives to exercise their rights. It is great to hear about examples from around the country of people using that process. I will come back to concerns over the rejections of some requests.
The expansion of banking hubs across Scotland has been positively received by the communities that have benefited. We have a total of 16 hubs already, and another 13 are in progress. They bring together multiple banks under one roof and provide communities with access to essential banking facilities, allowing customers to carry out everyday transactions and speak to representatives from their own banks on dedicated days.
I remember a statistic from back in 2022 that only 14 per cent of transactions nowadays involve cash. The world is changing. However, as members have said, we need safeguards. Many members have eloquently outlined the concerns of vulnerable communities—in particular, elderly people—as well as certain parts of the economy such as small businesses in more rural communities in particular. High street banking still has a role to play, and some of the safeguards that we have talked about are crucial.
In many respects, the closure of a bank removes the reason to visit a town. As the Scottish Government prepares for next year’s budget, will the minister make sure that the Government does nothing further that could impede our high streets?
We could have a separate debate about the future of high streets in Scotland. The small business bonus scheme, which has been in place for a number of years now, has been incredibly valuable to small businesses on our high streets. On many of our more rural high streets and those in smaller villages and communities, there are virtually no local businesses that pay rates. That is a very valuable instrument, it has been in place for many years now, and it plays a big role.
There have been a number of other activities in relation to the on-going concerns over the criteria for securing a banking hub. Many members have mentioned cases where that has been refused in the past. This month, representatives of the Scottish Government attended an FCA-convened forum on access to cash, at which we were able to raise Scotland-specific concerns about how our communities are being directly impacted. Those concerns were raised at the forum with the FCA, Link and Cash Access UK. We articulated a number of issues and gave some case studies based on insights that had been gained from lots of sources, including Citizens Advice Scotland, which highlighted Scotland’s particular rural geography, topography and demographics as compared with the rest of the UK. It has always been our objective to have specific Scottish concerns taken into account.
At that meeting, were concerns raised around the demise or withdrawal of public transport in rural areas? Was that taken into account?
A range of concerns were expressed by the Scottish Government at that meeting, such as the methodology used by Link to assess a community and decisions about the banking hubs. The frequency, duration and distance of public transport was indeed raised, as was the availability of transport in communities. The member should rest assured that that was raised at that meeting.
The FCA is now having a post-implementation review of a lot of the issues that we are discussing. [Interruption.] For clarity, that is not me on the screen.
I assure the Parliament that, in that post-implementation review and following the forum, the Scottish Government will continue to make the strongest representations to the authorities to ensure that our concerns are taken into account.
Many measures on digital inclusion are under way. We launched two new funds to support digital inclusion work just this month, to the tune of more than £1.4 million, which is now available. The connecting Scotland digital inclusion fund and a CivTech challenge have combined UK Government and Scottish Government funding to support digital inclusion projects. The whole issue of digital inclusion is not divorced from the issue of the loss of high street banks. It is important that we take measures to ensure that people are not left behind and can access banking services through digital means if they are unable to access them through a high street bank.
I assure the Parliament that I recognise this very topical issue, and I urge all members to pay attention to the post-implementation review that is being carried out by the FCA, so that we can ensure that Scotland’s voice is heard.
13:42 Meeting suspended.Previous
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