To ask Her Majesty's Government whether any decision to end the ability to pay by cheque will be contingent upon the provision of a telephone to every rural dwelling in the country. [HL2410]

The closure of Cheque and Credit Clearing, the UK system that processes cheques, is a commercial decision for industry, which will ultimately be taken by the Payments Council.

The Payments Council, which has an independent chair and four independent directors who represent consumer and business interests, is the body that sets the strategy for UK payments. It is funded by its membership, which consists of banks and other payment service providers.

The decision-making Board of the Council comprises of 15 voting seats (11 of which represent industry, and four of which are independent, representing the interests of consumers and businesses). Each seat on the board has one vote, although the four independent directors can block a vote if they all vote together.

The 16 board members of the Payments Council are:

an independent chairman—the Payments Council is in process of appointing anew Chairman;

four independent directors:

Professor Martin Cave (acting interim chairman);

Michael Alexander;

Moira Black; and

Stephen Locke;

11 industry directors whose organisations are members of the Payments Council and are elected to serve terms ranging from one to three years:

Brent Bellm, vice president and managing director, PayPal Europe;

Maurice Cleaves, managing director, Deutsche Bank;

Ron Kalifa, head of product management, Royal Bank of Scotland;

John Hughes, director, retail banking, Co-operative Bank;

Colin Painter, payments industry director, Service Delivery, HSBC Bank Plc;

Neil Lover, head of payments strategy, Nationwide Building Society;

Dermot Nolan, head of payments strategy and change, Bank of Ireland;

Juan Olaizola, executive director of Manufacturing, Santander;

Kevin Page, operations director, Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks;

Russell Saunders, payments and business services director, Lloyds Banking Group; and

the Barclays representative yet to be confirmed.

Further to the board members Paul Smee, chief executive, Payments Council and Andrew Bailey, executive director and chief cashier, Bank of England sit as observers on the board.

The Government, however, recognise that certain groups still value cheques as an important method of payment.

Before taking a final decision in 2016, and ahead of a closure of the cheque clearing system, the council is committed to ensuring that adequate alternatives are in place for and are being used by all users of cheques, in particular those users who are currently still highly dependent on this method of payment,