As I wrote in last month’s Axis edition, my number one priority for this year is to secure more banking hubs across Hertford and Stortford. With the help of the community, I have already secured one for Ware which, all being well, should be delivered later this year. However, I want one in each of Hertford, Sawbridgeworth and Bishop’s Stortford too.
However, I also mentioned that current FCA rules prevent me from doing so at present.
Since my last column, I have written a letter to Nikhil Rathi, the Chief Executive of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), with the support of 56 cross-party MPs spanning eight different political parties.
The FCA were recently consulting on changes to their rules. At present, these rules will not permit LINK - a not-for-profit that assesses a community’s access to cash needs - to recommend a banking hub in a community until the last bank in town closes. Their proposal was to change this to a second-to-last bank in town rule, something my colleagues and I did not think went far enough.
My argument is that if the direction of travel when it comes to bank closures is clear, why should we prevent LINK from recommending a banking hub for that community at that point?
This would allow banking staff to be moved over more seamlessly and, crucially, avoid any periods of limbo where a town has no access to cash at banks.
Banking closures have taken place in all four towns in my constituency in recent years. It is really bleak and only set to get worse. Nationally, in eight years, 54 bank branches have closed per month: three fifths of them. This trend will only continue with 249 more closures scheduled this year.
Ware lost all six of its banks in a short span of time. I do not want any other town in my constituency going through the same sort of limbo period Ware residents went through.
I don’t want to do anything that accelerates or promotes bank branch closures, but if banks continue to make such commercial decisions, we in the community should be looking at how we work to innovate to keep these important services.
Improving our environment by delivering cleaner air is really important to me. I’ve been working with Pollution Solution, a company in Hertford, and Hertfordshire County Council to trial a Roadvent at the Hockerill Lights in Bishop’s Stortford. Put simply, a Roadvent pulls in car fumes and cleans these at the roadside. At first, I thought the idea seemed too good to be true, but with trials taking place in Bedfordshire, I wanted to push to get one installed at site.
We’re not quite there with getting one installed yet, but I am conscious that we have other pollution hotspots in our area. Therefore, if you think I should work to get a Roadvent put in elsewhere too, please email me on julie.marson.mp@parliament.uk and I shall see what I can do.