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Credit

Volume 481: debated on Monday 20 October 2008

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what correspondence his Department’s (a) Ministers and (b) officials had with banks and their representatives on the provision of affordable credit in each year since 1997; and if he will place in the Library a copy of each item of correspondence; (227880)

(2) what meetings his Department’s (a) Ministers and (b) officials had with banks and their representatives to discuss the provision of affordable credit in each year since 1997; which banks were represented in each case; and what the date and location of each meeting was.

The Government are in continuing close contact with the banking sector. Treasury Ministers and officials meet and correspond with representatives of the banking sector on a regular basis to discuss a wide range of financial services issues, including the provision of affordable credit. It is not appropriate to provide details of all such engagements.

The banks have supported the Government’s work to promote access to affordable credit and to expand the lending capacity of third sector lenders such as Credit Unions and CDFIs. In December 2007 the major UK retail banks made a formal commitment to support this work including actions to develop new provision in 25 high priority areas identified by the Financial Inclusion Taskforce.