PARLIAMENTARY EARLY DAY MOTION
CLOSURE OF BARCLAYS BANK ABERCYNON BRANCH (13 March 2000)

That this House condemns the decision by Barclays Bank plc to close its Abercynon branch in South Wales on 7th April; notes with concern that Barclays Bank customers will now have to undertake a two hour round trip to reach the nearest Barclays branch; recognises that most Abercynon residents do not have access to Internet banking and cannot afford to travel to branches outside the area; notes that Abercynon has no cash point facilities; deplores the fact that Barclays is to carry out this closure without consulting its Abercynon customers and without undertaking an assessment of the impact on the local economy or the local community; notes that Barclays Bank plc's 1999 post tax profits were ú2.5 billion and that it has announced a nation-wide branch closure programme to increase profits by ú1 billion and to double returns for shareholders by 2003; calls upon Barclays to recognise their social responsibility to their customers and to withdraw the threat of closure; believes that Barclays branch closures are leading to financial exclusion for thousands which, in turn, exacerbates social exclusion; and calls upon Her Majesty's Government to undertake urgent discussions with Barclays and the other major high street banks in an effort to persuade them to end their ill-conceived, socially divisive and economically damaging programmes of branch closures.

Sponsored by:
Ann Clwyd (Labour)