rural services centres

You will remember, if you are a long established rural player, the hoo-haa when Lloyds closed a swathe of banks in the noughties. Well along with the bleeding of other service outlets from small towns this trend has continued. I think it is important not to be too mawkish about these issues as we need a new response to the changing economic face of rural towns. There is no point in trying to be a sort of financial king Canute and hold the economic tides back. The numbers of banks closing in High Streets is nonetheless astounding as witnessed in this article.

More than 1,200 towns and large villages in the UK have been left without a bank and 900 have just one branch left, according to a report by the Campaign For Community Banking. ‘These closures often strike at the heart of rural communities,’ says Derek French, spokesman for the group. ‘It’s not just elderly or disabled people who can’t travel far or use the internet who are affected by these closures. Local businesses are some of these branches’ most loyal customers. ‘By forcing them to travel miles to do their banking, you are causing them more expense and complication during what are already tough times.’ Nearly a quarter of branches that were open five years ago have since shut. Banks justify the closures by saying the branches are not well used, and that they need to slash staff costs and push customers on to online banking. However, nearly one in six British households still does not have access to the internet. The internet point made me think about the disquiet linked to the proposed reform of the benefits system which will require people to “do it online”. Here is yet more evidence of the negative impact of the “digital divide.”