Bring Back our Banks
In the age of increasing digitalisation, it is perhaps not surprising to see that the use of cash declines each year dramatically. In 2020, in part due to the pandemic but also due to the ease of technology, cash use in the UK fell to its lowest level, 13%. By 2024 it is expected that only 7% of in-store purchases will be using cash. As a result of this decline and the cost of large retail spaces, high-street banks across the UK are closing their doors and moving to mobile units and online services.
The closure of Brixham’s last retail bank is a case in point. The alternative services are many miles away, meaning that a slightly older community that is perhaps less tech-savvy, is forced to either move online or make the journey to and from Paignton. Brixham is not a unique example. Kingsbridge and Dartmouth tell a similar story.
With many communities being cut off from financial services, it is time to revaluate our expectations from our high street banks as well as explore what existing structures can be used to provide better access to cash.
Fortunately, there is a solution to hand, The Access to Cash Group has been trialling a pilot scheme known as the Banking Hub. This single centre offers each bank a day a week to operate their service in a local community where all banks have closed. The premises, managed by the Post Office, includes counter services, ATMs and, crucially, the opportunity for local businesses to deposit cash.
So far, the pilot scheme has only been operating in Cambuslang, South Lanarkshire, and Rochford, Essex. However, this week the pilot scheme is set to be expanded to include many new locations. South Devon needs to explore the viability of these banking hubs. Such structures would help those who have not yet taken the digital leap but also the businesses that seek to invest and create within our area.
Boosters all the way
This week I will be opposing the Government’s motions around masks, mandatory vaccinations and Covid passports. I do so not because I am careless or irresponsible, but because on each of these issues, I believe the Government has approached the situation in the wrong manner.
Concerning masks, it seems perverse that I can eat, sing and drink with a colleague without a mask, but not go to work with them. The fact that nightclubs and other hospitality venues will allow me to enter without a mask means that this policy has been ill thought out and is unlikely to reduce case numbers.
The very idea of mandatory vaccinations worries me. It is not the policy of a civilised nation, and if some have not received the vaccination then we need to explore why. Those who haven’t aren't all anti-vaxxers.
As for the passports, well when you have a variant that can infect you even if you have had the jab, albeit (according to the current data) more mildly, there is little point in producing a card that details your vaccination status.
However, the UK’s successful vaccination programme has certainly allowed us to enjoy greater freedom over the past six months. We must learn to live with the virus, and the key to doing so is to get your booster shot as soon as possible to ensure higher levels of protection.
Constituency Surgeries continue to take place. Please email Anthony.mangnall.mp@parliament.uk or call 01803 868378