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Treasury Select Committee (TSC) Reports
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Contact: Rachel Le Brocq Date: 21 Dec 2006 |
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The TSC have recently produced two reports; the first, Financial Inclusion: credit, savings, advice and insurance, published on the 16 November 2006, recommended that a new credit union Act is needed to allow them to take deposits from organisations as well as individuals; and the Government should look into promoting more secured lending by Community Development Finance Institutions (CDFIs) and other third sector bodies. It also pinpoints savings as the big omission from the Government’s financial inclusion strategy and says it should be accorded higher priority. The TSC supports the rollout of the Saving Gateway and suggests matching be sought from the private and charitable sectors (as well as the Government).
The report also refers to TSC's plans to conduct an inquiry into unclaimed assets. This is not the first time this has been mentioned, but it is the first time a date has been indicated - early 2007. A copy of the full report can be viewed on the TSC’s website (see link below).
The second report, “Banking the unbanked”: banking services, the Post Office Card Account and financial inclusion, published on 19 November 2006, concluded that banks should stop treating basic account applicants “like second class citizens”, however, the Committee agreed that now is not the time to legislate to force banks to open their doors to people who find themselves financially excluded.
The report, which examined the difficulties some people face in opening and using basic bank accounts, also looked at the role of the Post Office Card Account. The Committee said they expect the Banking Code Standards Board to take action against any banks found to be actively dissuading financially-excluded people from opening basic bank accounts. A copy of the full report can be viewed by following the link below.
