Today, Welwyn Hatfield’s Labour MP Andrew Lewin spoke in the House of Commons on his experience pushing Lloyds Banking Group for a community banking hub service in WGC.

Read Andrew’s full speech below:

“Thank you Madam Deputy Speaker and I congratulate my Honourable Friend, the Member for Blyth and Ashington on securing such an important debate.

Next week, the branches of Lloyds and Halifax will close their doors to customers in Welwyn Garden City for the last time. In Hatfield, we have already lost every single bank branch from White Lion Square in the centre of town. As we’ve heard in the chamber today, this is a story that’s wearily familiar to communities across the country.

Regrettably, I have to start by sharing my experience with Lloyds Banking Group. On their website, they talk of a commitment to putting customers first. I’m afraid my experience on behalf of residents in Welwyn Garden City left me feeling that we were just another cog in the corporate wheel.

Earlier this year, my office was informed of the closure of Lloyds and Halifax in Welwyn Garden City barely an hour before they hit send on the press release. Their management did respond to my firmly worded letter demanding a meeting and in person I made clear that if the closure could not be overturned, I wanted to work together on a bespoke option for their community banking service.

I suggested Welwyn Garden City Library as an appropriate community venue and said if that option was pursued there should be no barriers to running a regular service given the extremely low cost to Lloyds of hiring a room.

They went to went away, needed frequent chasing to respond and eventually came back with their standardised offer: a community banking service in the library, but open just once every fortnight.

Now, that is their national policy, so Welwyn Garden City is in no worse or better position than any of our neighbours. But I am left with the impression that they were never serious about a bespoke solution for our town.

If Lloyds Banking Group are listening or watching today and they want to think again, I will happily take a call as soon as I leave this chamber.

Madam Deputy Speaker, as other banks and building societies close, it is the role of government to accelerate the role, the roll out of banking hubs in Hatfield.

We have a temporary banking hub in the post office in White Lion Square and I know Cash Access and Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council are working towards a permanent home.

Some people will always want to have face to face conversations about their finances. The hub model is here to stay, a service underpinned by the state via the post office and the one that needs to be in communities across the country.

I’m equally convinced that how banks and building societies navigate the period of change might lead to more customers being increasingly open to switching.

I commend Nationwide for their national commitment to keeping branches open, and I note with interest that the current account switching service last year found that nearly 1.2 million Brits did switch their current accounts, with nationwide the beneficiary of the most net switches.

The challenge for the retail banking industry is to show they take seriously the need to engage with customers who want and need in person support and those who succeed might find that doing good is good business.

But where business has a choice to make, government as has an obligation, let’s fast track our plan for banking hubs and redouble our efforts to make sure no community is without one.”