Post Offices And Banking Facilities

EDM number 389 in 2003-04, proposed by Mike Weir on 12/01/2004.

That this House welcomes the agreements reached by the Post Office to offer banking facilities for customers of many major banks in post offices throughout the United Kingdom; believes that this arrangement will be good for bank customers since many small branches have closed in recent years and may go some way to improving the prospects of sub-post offices that have been hard hit by the Government's decision to put pressure on those in receipt of pensions and benefits to have them paid directly into bank accounts; regrets, however, that the major Scottish banks, Royal Bank of Scotland, Halifax Bank of Scotland and Clydesdale Bank have not joined in the scheme; believes this will mean many Scots, particularly in rural areas, will be unable to benefit from this initiative; and calls on the major Scottish banks to join the scheme.

This motion has been signed by a total of 33 MPs.