Torcuil Crichton

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Wishart. I thank the hon. Member for South Devon (Caroline Voaden) for raising this important issue, and I welcome Members back after a long summer. First, I have a holiday confession: I spent a week in Spain without touching a euro or a cent—not that I made my partner pay for everything; I just used a digital app. On my return, there was that quaint item in the post: a cheque, which I banked yesterday using a digital app. The truth is that we are using banks and handling cash less and less, but that does not mean that communities like mine in the Western Isles do not need banking services. This summer, the Bank of Scotland branch in Benbecula in my constituency closed its doors. That followed the closure of branches in Harris and in the port town of Lochmaddy. Those closures have raised concerns about banking services across the islands and in other parts of rural Scotland. My constituents cannot simply drive to the next bank, because it is across the sea on the mainland. In passing, I pay tribute to the mobile banking service, the bank van, which the RBS is still providing in the islands and other parts of Scotland. The closure of banking services has profound effects on islands, because another truth is that communities in my constituency, particularly in Uist, face a stark depopulation crisis. There is an ageing population and economically active families are being pushed away by unaffordable housing, lack of childcare and lack of digital and physical connectivity, with failing ferries and unaffordable air fares. Without correction, we will lose not just people but communities. Banking services, as well as housing and a growing economy, have to be part of the jigsaw to retain populations. In cash-heavy local economies, the loss of any branch is important. That is why I welcome the banking services review, but remind Ministers that they must move quickly and make sure that the approach is not one size fits all. Rural and island areas like mine rely on these vital services. Under the rules, an area should have a population of 10,000 to have a banking hub, but the population of Uist is 4,500. We need flexibility in the banking review because one size does not fit all.