Hansard

I hear the point that Mr Findlay makes and I am aware of his long-standing interest in the issue. I do not govern what happens in the Scottish Parliament—I am sure that the Presiding Officer would be the first to say that—but I take Mr Findlay’s point entirely. We are trying to make the point to RBS that there is a reputational issue. Its reputation is clearly suffering in the court of public opinion and in the court of this chamber’s opinion. I am sure that the strength of feeling that we have heard today is not lost on it.

In our view, the UK Government should not be a passive bystander. We believe that it should take immediate action to defend customers and ensure that communities, particularly the most vulnerable members of those communities—Mairi Gougeon made a powerful point about people with learning disabilities—are protected and have access to day-to-day banking services.

Of course we understand that many customers now choose to access banks and banking services in different ways, but, as many members said, that is not true of all customers. There are many customers for whom it is quite frightening to go online, because they hear stories of online fraud and other issues and they need reassurance. We know that services do not yet meet the needs of all customers and that, for some time to come, banks must continue to offer services to all customers in a way that meets their needs. There are often sensitive issues that need to be discussed with a bank, such as issues around bereavement, redundancy and other matters. A customer would not want to stand in a post office talking over the counter about something sensitive while someone behind them was waiting to buy stamps. Face-to-face contact in a private space is still a core part of what banking services need to provide.

Last week I spoke to Stephen Barclay, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, to press the case for a guaranteed level of access to essential banking services. We recognise that commercial decisions have to be taken, but, where regulation is in place, that creates a level playing field and provides the context in which those commercial decisions are made. We believe that there is a role for regulation to ensure that a minimum standard of banking services is left when banks close branches.

The UK Government has made it clear that, despite its having a majority stake in RBS, it will unfortunately not exercise its influence at this time. It might need to be pressurised to do more on that front, but I recognise the support of the Conservative members in the chamber for taking action on this. I appreciate that RBS operates on a commercial basis, and that it must do so, but we believe that there is a role for regulation.

We believe that the UK Government should work to ensure that robust alternative options are in place before it allows closures to take place. We are prepared to play our part in that; we do not expect it to fall entirely to others.

I acknowledge the work that the banks are doing with the Post Office to expand the services that are available to their customers through that network. However, as a number of members said, although the Post Office is able to offer a basic banking service, businesses in particular have concerns about cash deposits. A current barrier is that most post offices can accept only up to £2,000 in cash being deposited at any one time. That is a real barrier for tourism businesses located in rural areas such as Kate Forbes’s constituency; they will face real challenges as the majority of their trade is conducted in cash.

I spoke to senior RBS staff on Friday 1 December immediately following the bank’s announcement and I spoke yesterday to Simon Watson, the head of retail banking, when I asked the bank to consider further the support that it provides to customers affected by these closures. I welcome the commitment to provide training and support to customers in setting up and using digital services—there is more that I can say on that, but I am not yet at liberty to do so. However, in some areas there will continue to be challenges around digital access, which a number of members mentioned. I have urged RBS to take that into account, because I do not believe that it has been taken into account sufficiently to date—I refer not least to the difficulties in accessing a reliable wi-fi or 4G service in large parts of both rural and urban Scotland.

RBS maintains that it has made changes to its mobile banking fleet to allow it to serve a greater range of locations. Jenny Gilruth and others raised legitimate concerns about the availability of mobile banking services at a time that is convenient for customers. We urge RBS to take those concerns on board. I agree very much with the points that members made about that issue today.

As I said to Mike Rumbles, I have asked the bank to give further thought to the future of the branches that are to close. We believe that there is room for collaboration between RBS and other banks, independent financial advisers, tax advisers and others to potentially provide a hub that could represent a step-change in the availability of financial advice to members of the community. There could be a good opportunity coming out of this.

I do not want to finish the debate without saying something about the staff. As a number of members said, the planned closures affect the bank’s customers but also its staff. I had a very constructive meeting this week with representatives of Unite to discuss the impact of these closures on its members. I agree whole-heartedly with Kate Forbes’s praise of the staff and how they are handling the situation and supporting customers at a difficult time.

The bank has indicated that up to 160 jobs are at risk as a result of the announcements, but that is the figure for full-time equivalents. Given the nature of part-time employment in the banks, Unite estimates that up to 350 people could be affected by the redundancy programme and the potential voluntary redundancy options. As Rhoda Grant said, there are practical difficulties for staff in remote and rural locations, because they will have no alternative RBS site that it is practical for them to access, given their caring responsibilities or geographical barriers.

Unite has made it clear that it is concerned about the impact of the closures on communities. We will work closely with the unions on that.

As members have done, I urge RBS to listen to and reflect on what has been said today and work with us where it can to try to provide a long-term solution for the communities affected by the closure of the last branch in town. I put on record our appetite to do that and to help the communities and the staff affected, and indeed to help RBS come out of this with a better reputation than it risks having at this moment in time.